Sabbath music video
Here's Yaakov Shwekey singing Mimkomcha from the Sabbath morning Kedusha prayer.
Let's go to the videotape.
Let's go to the videotape.
Israel Matzav: Sabbath music video
Posts
6 hours ago
Friday, 26 February 2010
RubinReports: Will Obama Have an Iraq Crisis?
Will Obama Have an Iraq Crisis?
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By Barry Rubin
If—and I repeat, if--this story is true it is going to be a very big development that may, as they like to see in the television promos, change the Obama administration forever. According to Thomas Ricks, the former Washington Post military correspondent, General Raymond Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, is asking for an additional combat brigade to be put into Kirkuk and to stay beyond Obama’s August 2010 withdrawal deadline for all combat forces.
Reportedly, Odierno is worried about Kurdish-Arab-Turkoman conflict in the city, which would be a reason why an Iraqi brigade of Arab soldiers might further inflame the situation. Such a request makes the administration very uncomfortable. We saw how it took three months to make a decision over military strategy in Afghanistan which resulted in a highly politicized strategy designed to please all.
Ricks concludes: “I expect that Obama actually is going to have to break his promises on Iraq and keep a fairly large force in Iraq,” He knows better than I do about such things but I wonder if that’s true. I’d expect that for political reasons—and especially just before the critical congressional elections in November—Obama’s team will go for political profit rather than strategic safety.
By the way, this story clears up a mysterious detail that hints the U.S. military is thinking along these lines. The Defense Department’s Quadrennial Defense Review Report for 2010 says: “The United States will…manage a responsible force drawdown in Iraq and support an orderly transition to a more normal diplomatic and civilian presence.” The word “drawdown” means fewer troops, not complete withdrawal. This suggests the Defense Department wants to keeping serious forces in Iraq.
So the Obama administration might have an unpalatable choice coming up:
Keep the commitment of getting out all the combat forces and risk an instability including attacks on remaining U.S. facilities and trainers that will make it look bad. Or say “no” to the commander on the scene and thus appear to sacrifice the safety of troops and endanger an important place for political expediency and public relations’ points.
This might not happen but a few hours ago such a potential crisis wasn’t even on the horizon.
By Barry Rubin
If—and I repeat, if--this story is true it is going to be a very big development that may, as they like to see in the television promos, change the Obama administration forever. According to Thomas Ricks, the former Washington Post military correspondent, General Raymond Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, is asking for an additional combat brigade to be put into Kirkuk and to stay beyond Obama’s August 2010 withdrawal deadline for all combat forces.
Reportedly, Odierno is worried about Kurdish-Arab-Turkoman conflict in the city, which would be a reason why an Iraqi brigade of Arab soldiers might further inflame the situation. Such a request makes the administration very uncomfortable. We saw how it took three months to make a decision over military strategy in Afghanistan which resulted in a highly politicized strategy designed to please all.
Ricks concludes: “I expect that Obama actually is going to have to break his promises on Iraq and keep a fairly large force in Iraq,” He knows better than I do about such things but I wonder if that’s true. I’d expect that for political reasons—and especially just before the critical congressional elections in November—Obama’s team will go for political profit rather than strategic safety.
By the way, this story clears up a mysterious detail that hints the U.S. military is thinking along these lines. The Defense Department’s Quadrennial Defense Review Report for 2010 says: “The United States will…manage a responsible force drawdown in Iraq and support an orderly transition to a more normal diplomatic and civilian presence.” The word “drawdown” means fewer troops, not complete withdrawal. This suggests the Defense Department wants to keeping serious forces in Iraq.
So the Obama administration might have an unpalatable choice coming up:
Keep the commitment of getting out all the combat forces and risk an instability including attacks on remaining U.S. facilities and trainers that will make it look bad. Or say “no” to the commander on the scene and thus appear to sacrifice the safety of troops and endanger an important place for political expediency and public relations’ points.
This might not happen but a few hours ago such a potential crisis wasn’t even on the horizon.
RubinReports: Will Obama Have an Iraq Crisis?
Love of the Land: J Street Silent on Israel Apartheid Week. Surprised?
J Street Silent on Israel Apartheid Week. Surprised?
Use This Bookmark to Keep Your Place in The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion
Parrhesia
J Street Jive
25 February '10
Posted before Shabbat
Rush down to your local college. It's that time of year again! Israel Apartheid Week. And it's the sixth annual! Every major American Jewish organization has put out a statement condemning Israel Apartheid Week - except one. Guess. That's right - Jeremy Ben Enemy & Co. - the ad nauseam, self-branded "Pro Israel" lobbyists. Now if silence is assent, we can only conclude that Jeremy and his patrons, chief among whom is George Soros, heartily approve this obscenity hurled at Israel and Jews. Even the often feckless ADL has declared:
"Past IAW events have featured extreme anti-Israel rhetoric, including accusations of Israeli racism and apartheid; calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns against Israel and Israeli institutions; and allegations that Israel is committing war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people. IAW events have taken place on college campus and at churches, community centers and elsewhere."
The American Jewish Committee, CAMERA, The David Project, Stand with Us have all condemned the thinly-disguised Jew-hatred in the form of BDS advocacy (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). In its self-aggrandizing description, the group even refuses to identify Jerusalem by name - it is called Al Quds.
(Read full post)
Love of the Land: J Street Silent on Israel Apartheid Week. Surprised?
Israel Matzav: How's that 'engagement' going Barack?
How's that 'engagement' going Barack?
Days after the United States announced the return of an ambassador to Syria for the first time in five years, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hosted a dinner meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and de facto Lebanese leader and Hezbullah chairman Hassan Nasrallah. The three discussed the 'Zionist threat' at their meeting in Damascus on Thursday night.The meeting was not reported until after it took place due to 'security reasons.' It's been quite a while since Nasrallah was out in the open....
On Thursday Ahmadinejad and Assad together unleashed vicious rhetoric against Israel, with Ahmadinejad declaring that the “criminal” state of Israel is doomed, and Assad charging that Israel “is capable of aggression at any point.”
Visiting Damascus, Ahmadinejad vowed that Arab nations will usher in a new Middle East “without Zionists and without colonialists.”
In remarks that extended to vicious criticism of the US, and made a mockery of Washington’s efforts to engage his Syrian hosts, Ahmadinejad said the United States should leave the Middle East and stay out of regional affairs.
“[The Americans] want to dominate the region but they feel Iran and Syria are preventing that,” Ahmadinejad said during a news conference with Assad. “We tell them that instead of interfering in the region's affairs, to pack their things and leave.”
He added that “if the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation.”
Assad, for his part, said Syria was “facing an entity that is capable of aggression at any point, and we are preparing ourselves for any Israeli aggression, be it on a large or small scale.”
He added that America should not dictate relationships in the Middle East.
"I find it strange how they talk about Middle East stability and at the same time talk about dividing two countries," Assad told reporters when asked about US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's call Wednesday for Syria to move away from Iran.
Assad took a swipe at Clinton for making such a suggestion, saying he and Ahmadinejad "misunderstood, maybe because of translation error or limited understanding." In a show of unity, the two signed an agreement canceling travel visas between the their countries.
US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, speaking to reporters in Washington on Thursday, said Assad "need only look around the region and recognize that Syria is increasingly an outlier."
"We want to see Syria play a more constructive role in the region and one step would be to make clear what Iran needs to do differently. And unfortunately, there was no evidence of that today," he said.
Crowley and his bosses are dreaming. The real Assad was on display in Damascus Thursday night. Washington is being run by a bunch of dreaming morons.
What could go wrong?
What could go wrong?
Israel Matzav: How's that 'engagement' going Barack?
Israel Matzav: Israel's moment of truth
Israel's moment of truth
Pajamas Media's Bill Whittle interviews Caroline Glick, who says that based upon the IAEA report on Iran issued this week puts Israel at a moment of truth. She believes that there is no international will to work against Iran, and that we now have to work outside the Security Council, which means no biting international sanctions. Glick does not believe that the United States will act, and sanctions won't happen. It's all in Israel's court to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power by attacking its nuclear facilities.
Glick agrees with a post I did earlier this week, which said that the Eitan (Heron TP) drone gives Israel a strategic bombing capability. She also says that Iran is capable of carrying out an electromagnetic pulse attack against the United States. The world's fate, says Caroline, is falling on Israel's shoulders. This is a fascinating interview which must be watched.
You can go to the videotape here.
Glick agrees with a post I did earlier this week, which said that the Eitan (Heron TP) drone gives Israel a strategic bombing capability. She also says that Iran is capable of carrying out an electromagnetic pulse attack against the United States. The world's fate, says Caroline, is falling on Israel's shoulders. This is a fascinating interview which must be watched.
You can go to the videotape here.
Israel Matzav: Israel's moment of truth
Israel Matzav: Another double standard
Another double standard
China may be the 'number one espionage threat to the United States. On Sunday Night, those of you who watch 60 Minutes will see a Pentagon employee hand a Chinese spy classified documents in exchange for cash. The Pentagon employee got five years in jail and the Chinese spy - a naturalized US citizen - got 15 years.But Jonathan Pollard has been in prison serving a life sentence since 1986 for giving classified information to Israel, a US ally.
Double standard anyone?
Israel Matzav: Another double standard
Israel Matzav: EU court: Products manufactured by Israelis in Judea and Samaria aren't Israeli
EU court: Products manufactured by Israelis in Judea and Samaria aren't Israeli
Europe's highest court has ruled that products manufactured by Jewish-owned companies in Judea and Samaria are not 'made in Israel' and are therefore not entitled to the benefits of the free trade agreement between Israel and the European Union. The ruling was rendered as an advisory opinion in a case posed by an appeals court in Hamburg, Germany. The case involved Brita GmbH, which was importing sparkling water and fruit syrups from Soda Club Ltd., an Israeli company located in Mishor Adumim, which is next to Maaleh Adumim, a few minutes east of Jerusalem. The court said the EU deal with Israel "applies to the territory of the State of Israel" and the Palestinian one to "the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."
Each of those two association agreements has its own territorial scope," it said, adding Israeli goods made in the West Bank cannot enjoy duty-free access to the vast EU market.
A source in the Foreign Ministry told Army Radio that the EU ruling "surprised no one," adding that "Israel regrets a decision which authorizes the persecution of Israeli products made in Judea and Samaria and a constitution of the European political campaign against the settlements."
But it is likely to stir Israel, whose military maintains control over the area, its Israeli settlements and Israeli companies there.
The latter can benefit from cheaper labor in the West Bank.
Many of the settlements there use Palestinian workers, who earn less than their counterparts in Israel.
But since Palestinians are largely barred from working in Israel and have few job opportunities in the Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank, jobs in settlement factories are sought after.
Jobs in 'settlement factories' also pay much better than jobs in 'Palestinian' factories, which means that if Israeli companies leave the industrial zones in Judea and Samaria, it's the 'Palestinians' who work for them who will once again lose out.
The Arabs seem to love cutting off their respective noses to spite their faces. One has to wonder why.
The Arabs seem to love cutting off their respective noses to spite their faces. One has to wonder why.
Israel Matzav: EU court: Products manufactured by Israelis in Judea and Samaria aren't Israeli
Israel Matzav: Good news: US not seeking 'crippling sanctions' against Iran either
Good news: US not seeking 'crippling sanctions' against Iran either
State Department spokesman PJ Crowley says that the US is not seeking 'crippling sanctions' against Iran. Really. The United States said on Thursday it does not aim to impose crippling sanctions on Iran but rather to pressure the Iranian government to change course on its nuclear program while protecting ordinary people.
"It is not our intent to have crippling sanctions that have ... a significant impact on the Iranian people," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters. "Our actual intent is ... to find ways to pressure the government while protecting the people."
What could go wrong?
Israel Matzav: Good news: US not seeking 'crippling sanctions' against Iran either
Israel Matzav: New 'Palestinian' political faction formed in Lebanon
New 'Palestinian' political faction formed in Lebanon
A new 'Palestinian' political faction has been founded in Lebanon. If you think that it's going to advocate for things like equal rights for 'Palestinians' in Lebanon so that they can hold normal jobs and have decent living conditions without discrimination, you're wrong. “The living condition of the Palestinian people has reached boiling point because of Israeli political obstinacy, and the American support of this,” Bilal Al-Hassan, a Palestinian journalist, writer and co-founder of the organization said at the launching ceremony. “This situation will now be translated into action and advancement.”
The exact nature of the movement’s policies remains unclear but leaders of the organization plan to meet in May to “decide on its actions democratically.”
The movement, which is declaredly independent, opposes negotiations and supports resistance against the Israeli occupation but insists armed combat is “not its objective”.
“There are martyrdom factions for this purpose that engage in resistance and we give them our blessing,” Al-Hassan told the London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat.
“By establishing a Zionist entity on Palestinian land, [the Zionists] are targeting Arabs,” the movement’s manifesto says. “Resisting the occupation in all its forms is an obligation, not just a right. Any talks about a just and permanent peace which is based on recovering parts of the land that were occupied in 1967 or even all of it would effectively accomplish the Israeli aim of this war which is to garner acceptance of Israel’s existence and legitimacy, without solving the Palestinian issue and without granting them their rights.”
“Achieving peace between the Arab and non-Arab nations and individuals can be done regardless of their sectarian roots and religious inclinations but peace is not obtainable with the occupation,” it continues. “The Oslo approach is a second nakba [catastrophe], but the difference is that this nakba was furnished by the Palestine Liberation Organization.”
One of the founders of the movement is Azmi Bishara (pictured) who resigned from the Knesset and fled Israel ahead of an indictment for treason.
The more things change for the 'Palestinians,' the more they stay the same. They've gained a lot in the last 60 years, haven't they? What could go wrong?
The more things change for the 'Palestinians,' the more they stay the same. They've gained a lot in the last 60 years, haven't they? What could go wrong?
Israel Matzav: New 'Palestinian' political faction formed in Lebanon
Israel Matzav: Ahmdinejad steps up calls to eliminate Israel
Ahmdinejad steps up calls to eliminate Israel
MEMRI reports that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stepped up his calls to eliminate Israel over the past couple of weeks. At a press conference with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus on February 25, 2010, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "A Middle East without Zionism is a divine promise... Time is on the side of the peoples of the region. The Zionist entity is nearing the threshold of nonexistence. Its raison d'être is finished, and its path is a dead end. If Israel wants to repeat the mistakes of the past, the death of the Zionist entity is certain... This time, all the nations of the region will stand fast in the face of the [Zionist regime], and will uproot it."
Ahmadinejad promised further that "the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance and the Syrian people are standing alongside each other."[1]
In a February 23, 2010 speech in Birjand in eastern Iran, Ahmadinejad said: "I have told Israel's neighbors to be prepared. I told them that if Israel makes one more mistake, this is the end of this regime."[2]
In a February 18, 2010 phone conversation with Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, Ahmadinejad assessed that Israel wants war in the region as compensation for its defeats in Gaza and in Lebanon – but that it "fears the ramifications of such a move." He called on Hizbullah to prepare for a possible Israeli attack, and said: "We must be ready at such a level that if they [Israel] repeat their mistake from the past [that is, attack Lebanon], an end will be put [to the Zionist regime], and the region will be delivered from its evil." He promised that "on this issue, the Iranian nation stands alongside the nations of the region, and alongside Lebanon."[3]
In another February 18 conversation, this time with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Ahmadinejad reiterated his statements to Nasrallah and called for planning "for every kind of possible attack by the Zionist regime, so that if it repeats its mistakes of the past, the matter [of Israel] will be ended. This is possible," he continued, "because they [i.e. the Israelis] are in a position of weakness... Without a doubt, Israel will take heavy blows due to the solidarity among Lebanon, Syria, and the other friendly countries."[4]
In a February 10, 2010 phone conversation with Syrian President Assad, Ahmadinejad promised that "Iran will always stand alongside Syria and Lebanon, the Palestinian resistance [organizations,] and the rest of the Muslim nations." He called on Syria to act together with Iran against Israel: "If the Zionist regime again repeats its mistakes from the past, and launches a military operation, all forces must be brought into action, and an end must be put [to the Zionist regime], by means of steadfastness and resistance."
He added that Israel was "on the slope of downfall" and that "all its moves are being made from a position of weakness."[5]
If he keeps this up, those planes are going to be there to bomb him real soon.
Does anyone doubt that he means it?
Does anyone doubt that he means it?
Israel Matzav: Ahmdinejad steps up calls to eliminate Israel
Israel Matzav: How Israel's big new drone could take out Iranian nukes
How Israel's big new drone could take out Iranian nukes
On Monday, I talked about how Israel's newest drone, the Eitan or Heron TP has a 20-hour flight range and is capable of reaching Iran. Popular Mechanics talks about the role the Eitan could play in a strike against Iran's nuclear capability (Hat Tip: Instapundit). Working from high altitudes, the Eitan will likely be used to provide prestrike information on targets, to eavesdrop on electronic communications and to send battle damage assessments back after an attack. It will also undoubtably be used to monitor any retaliation for the airstrike—seeking rocket launches and eavesdropping on Iran. The onboard power required to electronically jam radar and communications equipment is not in the Eitan, Israeli defense industry officials told the trade journal Defense News. But the ability to carry so much weight opens up questions about the drones' ability to conduct long-range, high-risk bombing missions on their own.
Early literature suggested the Eitan would have a role in shooting down enemy missiles in flight as well as in bombing targets. But the craft at the ceremony featured a pod under the nose that contains only sensors, which can track moving targets at high resolution, day or night. Eitanhas the eyes of a predator, but seemingly no claws. Unless, of course, the less public Israeli Eitan fleet has hidden surprises in UAVs' bays or tacked onto the wings at various hard points. But just providing information could greatly assist with an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities—especially if Israeli special forces are present on the ground. Deep in enemy territory, they would be avid consumers of such recon.
Israel has been at the forefront of UAV development for decades, and taught the U.S. a thing or two about drones. The U.S. Air Force flew unmanned recon drones called Lightning Bugs during the 1970s in Vietnam, but shut down all its UAV funding until the mid-1980s. Israel changed world opinion about UAVs in 1982 when they used small UAVs to trick radar installations into becoming active during the battle in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley; manned airplanes then moved in to destroy the radar sites after the unmanned planes revealed their locations. This is not the kind of mission the Eitan will fly—they soar at high altitudes that make them difficult targets, and flirting with surface-to-air missile sites is not their role. The United States realized UAV potential only after the Bekaa Valley campaign. Still, during the 1990s, the Pentagon spent only $3 billion on UAV development, procurement and operations. It took wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to change all that: The Defense Department is spending $5.4 billion on UAVs this year alone.
America sees the advantage of UAVs in insurgent campaigns, both urban and rural. But in a "big war" operation, when enemy radar and missiles are robust, as they are in Iran, the way Israel could use its UAVs is worth watching. Israel's long-distance Eitans are not that new, but the way they could be used during a complex air raid could be groundbreaking. Literally and figuratively.
Hmmm. (Well what else do you want me to say - I'm a lawyer, not an engineer).
Israel Matzav: How Israel's big new drone could take out Iranian nukes
Israel Matzav: The mainstream media discovers Tom Campbell's Israel problem
The mainstream media discovers Tom Campbell's Israel problem
The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday that support for Israel - or one of the candidate's allegedly less-than-warm support - has become an issue in the California Republican Senatorial primary. Rivals in the race for the Republican nomination are questioning whether former Rep. Tom Campbell is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They base their criticisms on his voting record, statements about a Palestinian homeland and capital, and some of his past associates.
Their allegations have raised enough concerns for Campbell that he plans to meet Monday with the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He also is reaching out to other Jewish leaders. His campaign's honorary chairman, former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, weighed in to call Campbell's support for the nation "unwavering."
"He clearly understands the very real threats facing the Israeli people, all the more urgent now as Iran rushes toward nuclear arms," Shultz said in a statement released to The Times. "Tom Campbell's record of action tells you where he stands, and I stand with him."
The two other major Republican primary contestants, former businesswoman Carly Fiorina and Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, have launched criticisms of Campbell. The rhetoric has grown so heated that a prominent supporter of Campbell's has accused Fiorina's campaign manager of calling Campbell an "anti-Semite." The campaign manager denies the accusation.
Curiously, this time, it's not the Jews Campbell is afraid of losing - it's the Evangelical Christians.
Read the whole thing - it summarizes several posts I've done over the past week. The comments of Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center are devastating.
Read the whole thing - it summarizes several posts I've done over the past week. The comments of Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center are devastating.
"He's a brilliant gentlemen and an engaging personality, and I don't think he's particularly pro-Israel," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, who has known Campbell since the 1980s. "I think there's enough there on the record that would send real alarms that this is someone who maybe doesn't fully understand, doesn't fully value or fully support a strong ongoing relationship with the state of Israel, an alliance with the state of Israel."
Ouch.
Jennifer Rubin reminds us that there's one detail that the Times left out: His association with Alison Weir.
Jennifer Rubin reminds us that there's one detail that the Times left out: His association with Alison Weir.
Israel Matzav: The mainstream media discovers Tom Campbell's Israel problem
Israel Matzav: A Hamas Sheikh you can talk to?
A Hamas Sheikh you can talk to?
Avi Issacharoff on Hamas Sheikh Hassan Yousef, and his son Mosab, who was a Shin Bet informer for ten years. This is in essence the almost unimaginable story of Mosab, 32, who decided to go against everything that he had been taught by his father, family, religion and surroundings. This heavy, even heartbreaking story, is about a young Palestinian who turned his father in to the Shin Bet in order to save him from being assassinated. Mosab even used his mother by sending her to his father in hiding, allowing IDF troops to follow her to his father's location.
Sheikh Hassan Yousef released a message on Wednesday saying the article was not true. I am saddened that he has been hurt by the personal dimension of this story.
I have always believed that if there is someone in Hamas that Israel would be able to talk with, it would be Sheikh Hassan Yousef. I met him in prison in 2004 while conducting interviews with my colleague Amos Harel for our book "The Seventh War" about the second intifada. The Sheikh is an exceptional man who does not support the use of violence despite the fact that he is part of Hamas. He used to tell his son Mosab that it is important to protect even the life of a cricket in a field. The Sheikh was very interested in Israeli society and at a certain point in our acquaintance even tried to pass along calming messages to the government of Ariel Sharon.
Unfortunately, Hamas in Damascus was not like the Sheikh.
Whether or not Hassan Yousef is 'someone you can talk to,' it doesn't sound like he has the power within Hamas to change things anyway.
Israel Matzav: A Hamas Sheikh you can talk to?
Israel Matzav: A taste of his own medicine
A taste of his own medicine
Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was a frequent user of false passports and disguises. Just like his liquidators. From shooting at a car that drove repeatedly past his home in Syria -- he later discovered it belonged to Syrian minders -- to shunning room service in hotels, the Hamas arms procurer took his personal security very seriously.
"He used to wear colored contact lenses and dye his hair when traveling to European countries," said the confidant, who is based in the Gaza Strip, an enclave run by Hamas Islamists. He told Reuters he spent two years in exile with Mabhouh.
"He used to supply money and arms to Hamas and other allied factions," the confidant said.
"He had many passports of different nationalities -- all Arab," he added. "Recently he underwent surgery to reshape his nose. It became narrower."
I wonder what he looked like when he murdered Avi Sassportas and Ilan Sa'adon.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was a piece of human drek. Good riddance!
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was a piece of human drek. Good riddance!
Israel Matzav: A taste of his own medicine
Love of the Land: UK Warrant for Queen Esther's Arrest
UK Warrant for Queen Esther's Arrest
Honest Reporting/Backspin
26 February '10
A UK judge issued an arrest warrant for Queen Esther, who is due to arrive in London for a speaking tour of British universities.
Tayab Ali, the solicitor who obtained the warrant, told Backspin editor Pesach Benson, "Mordechai and Esther had every right to resist the oppression of Haman's Amalekite regime, but Jewish defensive measures were disproportionate and war crimes did occur."
A spokesman for Queen Esther condemned the warrant, and reiterated her refusal to meet with a UN commission investigating civil unrest after the collapse of Haman's center-right cabinet.
Media reports, human rights groups, and Amalekite non-governmental organizations say 125,000 people -- mostly Amalekite civilians -- died in fights with the Jews. Jewish groups dispute this, putting the death toll at 75,000 -- all of whom were combatants.
Happy Purim to all our readers.Love of the Land: UK Warrant for Queen Esther's Arrest
Love of the Land: Shurat HaDin wins court victory for Jewish families In Jaffa
Shurat HaDin wins court victory for Jewish families In Jaffa
Shurat HaDin
For Immediate Release
25 February '10
The Tel Aviv District Court handed down a ruling that Jewish families, who had won a public tender to purchase land in the Tel-Aviv suburb of Jaffa, are entitled to go forward with their plans to construct a multi-family building. The families' rights to build had been challenged in court by a coalition of Arab-Israelis and politically motivated NGOs. The coalition demanded that the families' bid be disqualified by the court based solely upon the fact that they are Jewish and that their presence in Jaffa will tip the demographic balance of the neighborhood and discriminates against Arabs.
Several months ago, the families submitted a joint bid on a plot of land in Jaffa which had been offered up in a public auction by the Israel Lands Authority (ILA). The families planned to build a residential building, with twenty apartments, on the plot. A competing, lower bid was submitted by an Arab contractor. After considering all the bids, the ILA awarded the rights to the Jewish group.
Following the families' victory, a coalition of twenty-five Israeli-Arabs from Jaffa, along with three Israeli human rights NGOs, filed a petition in the Tel Aviv District Court against the ILA, insisting that the families' successful bid be disqualified. The coalition argued that since the families intended to build apartments primarily for Jewish citizens, the ILA - a government agency - had somehow discriminated against the Arab contractor and Arab residents of Jaffa in conducting the public auction. The petitioners argued that the local Arab population of Jaffa suffers from a housing shortage and that the court should issue an injunction against building any apartments, unless the builders agree to allocate housing units specifically for Arabs!
To fight for their rights, the families had turned to Shurat HaDin to
represent them in court.
(Read full story)
Love of the Land: Shurat HaDin wins court victory for Jewish families In Jaffa
Love of the Land: Purim and the obsessions of crackpot professors
Purim and the obsessions of crackpot professors
Bataween
Point of No Return
26 February '10
With the festival of Purim around the corner, Jews turn to Persia and tell the story of how the Jewess Esther and her uncle Mordechai saved their people from extermination by the wicked Haman.
Same story, different time. President Ahmadinejad has again just announced he is looking forward to a Middle East without Zionists.
In leftwing circles it's become fashionable to downplay Ahmadinejad's threats to annihilate Israel as just so much empty rhetoric, or a mistranslation of the Farsi. We are now seeing a breed of young (Ashkenazi) Israeli academics who see Marxist dichotomies and hifalutin' theories of cultural dissonance where there is just plain old antisemitism.
This book, by professor Haggai Ram, at Ben Gurion university, reviewed here, is no exception.
(Read full article)
Love of the Land: Purim and the obsessions of crackpot professors
Love of the Land: Syria Responds To Obama's Engagement, Publicly Mocks Clinton And Embraces Iran
Syria Responds To Obama's Engagement, Publicly Mocks Clinton And Embraces Iran
Omri
Mere Rhetoric
25 February '10
Which part of the new "positive, constructive U.S.-Syrian relationship" involves having the US Secretary of State getting publicly mocked by grinning totalitarian thugs?
President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed a bilateral deal to remove travel visas and attended a Muslim ceremony in the Syrian capital... "We must have understood Clinton wrong because of bad translation or our limited understanding, so we signed the agreement to cancel the visas," Assad said. "I find it strange that they (Americans) talk about Middle East stability and peace and the other beautiful principles and call for two countries to move away from each other," he added. Ahmadinejad told a joint news conference: "Clinton said we should maintain a distance. I say there is no distance between Iran and Syria." He added: "We have the same goals, same interests and same enemies."
Love of the Land: Syria Responds To Obama's Engagement, Publicly Mocks Clinton And Embraces Iran
Love of the Land: Quotes of the month
Quotes of the month
An Israeli cabinet minister is more likely to face prosecution in the United Kingdom nowadays than a terrorist who has murdered Israeli civilians. — Barry Rubin, 2/22
What was disproportionate this time? Was there a disproportionate use of passports? — Tzipi Livni, 2/24
The Goldstone Report seems to be objective and well-grounded — Diego López Garrido, the secretary of state for the European Union in the Spanish Foreign Ministry, 2/25
A Middle East without Zionism is a divine promise… Time is on the side of the peoples of the region. The Zionist entity is nearing the threshold of nonexistence. Its raison d’être is finished, and its path is a dead end. If Israel wants to repeat the mistakes of the past, the death of the Zionist entity is certain… This time, all the nations of the region will stand fast in the face of the [Zionist regime], and will uproot it. — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Damascus (tr. MEMRI) 2/25
Love of the Land: Quotes of the month
Love of the Land: The marketing genius of Yasser Arafat
The marketing genius of Yasser Arafat
Soccer Dad
25 February '10
In the West an attitude towards Palestinian terrorism developed along the lines of "we don't condone the violence but you have to understand the Palestinian grievance." Of course that attitude implicitly excuses the violence it claims not to condone.
But this fig leaf (understanding the Palestinian grievance) didn't just excuse Palestinian violence against Israel, it also shielded that Arab world from its openly antisemitic policies (they have to stick up for the Palestinians).
In his meeting with President Assad of Syria, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said:
"With Allah's help, the new Middle East will be a Middle East without Zionists and imperialists. We hope they will recognize the rights of the region's nations, but they must realize that if they continue along their wrongful path they have no place in our region. Today the ties between the region's nations - between Iran, Syria and the resistance movement - are very strong. We believe that developments in the world will benefit Iran, Syria and the region's free governments," he said.
Love of the Land: The marketing genius of Yasser Arafat
Love of the Land: Where is Goldstone now?
Where is Goldstone now?
Why is world silent in wake of killing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan?
Eitan Haber
Israel Opinion/Ynet
24 February '10
Here are the dry numbers (after all the tears have dried up): Earlier this week, NATO forces hit several vehicles in Afghanistan and killed 27 innocent Afghanis, including four women and a child.
And a reminder to those who forgot: A short while ago, 13 other innocent Afghanis were killed after a missile mistakenly targeted a residential home instead of a Taliban position.
Let there be no misunderstandings about it: Even though I am writing this thousands of kilometers away from the scene of these incidents, and even though we are talking about anonymous families in a foreign and hostile country, one is pained by the loss of life and by the sudden death of people who wanted to live, love, build a home and plant a tree. In this respect, our tears are real; tears are similar in every corner of the world.
But now, after all of the above had been said, we a have a small question; a tiny question, a minor one, something wholly insignificant: Where are you, Goldstone?
Here is an unintelligent guess: The world that cries out and weeps for every scratch suffered by a Palestinian child (and we are opposed to even such scratch,) the same world that portrays the State of Israel every morning (in newspapers) and every night (on TV) as the killer and butcher of children and as a state that fires into homes only to find bleeding bodies later on, that world will be silent, or at most offer some lip service in respect to the incident described above.
(Read full article)
Eitan Haber
Israel Opinion/Ynet
24 February '10
Here are the dry numbers (after all the tears have dried up): Earlier this week, NATO forces hit several vehicles in Afghanistan and killed 27 innocent Afghanis, including four women and a child.
And a reminder to those who forgot: A short while ago, 13 other innocent Afghanis were killed after a missile mistakenly targeted a residential home instead of a Taliban position.
Let there be no misunderstandings about it: Even though I am writing this thousands of kilometers away from the scene of these incidents, and even though we are talking about anonymous families in a foreign and hostile country, one is pained by the loss of life and by the sudden death of people who wanted to live, love, build a home and plant a tree. In this respect, our tears are real; tears are similar in every corner of the world.
But now, after all of the above had been said, we a have a small question; a tiny question, a minor one, something wholly insignificant: Where are you, Goldstone?
Here is an unintelligent guess: The world that cries out and weeps for every scratch suffered by a Palestinian child (and we are opposed to even such scratch,) the same world that portrays the State of Israel every morning (in newspapers) and every night (on TV) as the killer and butcher of children and as a state that fires into homes only to find bleeding bodies later on, that world will be silent, or at most offer some lip service in respect to the incident described above.
(Read full article)
Love of the Land: Where is Goldstone now?
Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Guardian of the Falklands
Guardian of the Falklands
The British and Argentinians are bickering about the Falklands, again. While no one expects them to start shooting, they are serious, not because of 2,500 Englishmen who live on the islands, nor because the islands are closer to Argentina than to the UK, but because there's oil nearby.
The historical claims of both sides stem from colonial pasts. The British have been coming and going since the late 16th century, perhaps, and the Spanish were in the picture since sometime in the late 18th century. The Argentinian claim flows from the Spanish one, apparently; no-one says they've been there from time immemorial or anything. If you're into damning colonialism - as some are - you're best bet is to wish for a pox on both their houses.
The Guardian is vehemently into damning colonialism. It's one of their favorite themes. On this one, however, they're a bit choosy: The British claim, they say, is a colonial vestige, so it should be dropped. (In favor of the Spanish colonial claim). Heh.
The historical claims of both sides stem from colonial pasts. The British have been coming and going since the late 16th century, perhaps, and the Spanish were in the picture since sometime in the late 18th century. The Argentinian claim flows from the Spanish one, apparently; no-one says they've been there from time immemorial or anything. If you're into damning colonialism - as some are - you're best bet is to wish for a pox on both their houses.
The Guardian is vehemently into damning colonialism. It's one of their favorite themes. On this one, however, they're a bit choosy: The British claim, they say, is a colonial vestige, so it should be dropped. (In favor of the Spanish colonial claim). Heh.
Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Guardian of the Falklands
Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Ethan Bronner on Jerusalem
Ethan Bronner on Jerusalem
Remember the recent spat about how Ethan Bronner, the top NYT fellow in Israel and Palestine, must or must not be removed since his son has joined the IDF?
Today he's got an article about the development plans our mayor, Nir Barket, is trying to implement in a corner of East Jerusalem you've never heard of, al-Bustan. So far as I can see, Bronner's report is what's called balanced. He talked to the mayor, he talked to some Palestinian residents who will be affected if the plan goes through, he doesn't state an opinion of his own and so far as I can see, he doesn't imply one, either. Here's an issue; here's what one side says, here's what the other side says. I report, you decide.
Professional journalism.
There's only one problem: since you've never heard of al-Bustan before, you come away from this report with exactly no more understanding than before you read it. If you don't believe me, here's an intellectual exercise: Pretend you can be beamed over to this al-Bustan place, along with a group of intelligent folks who know nothing about the matter, and while standing in the middle of it you've got to explain to them what's going on, and answer their follow-up questions. You won't be able to, will you. Of course not.
That's professional journalism for you.
Today he's got an article about the development plans our mayor, Nir Barket, is trying to implement in a corner of East Jerusalem you've never heard of, al-Bustan. So far as I can see, Bronner's report is what's called balanced. He talked to the mayor, he talked to some Palestinian residents who will be affected if the plan goes through, he doesn't state an opinion of his own and so far as I can see, he doesn't imply one, either. Here's an issue; here's what one side says, here's what the other side says. I report, you decide.
Professional journalism.
There's only one problem: since you've never heard of al-Bustan before, you come away from this report with exactly no more understanding than before you read it. If you don't believe me, here's an intellectual exercise: Pretend you can be beamed over to this al-Bustan place, along with a group of intelligent folks who know nothing about the matter, and while standing in the middle of it you've got to explain to them what's going on, and answer their follow-up questions. You won't be able to, will you. Of course not.
That's professional journalism for you.
Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Ethan Bronner on Jerusalem
The Torah Revolution: Main message of Purim by Yekutiel Guzofsky
Main message of Purim by Yekutiel Guzofsky
Purim and the expulsion of our enemies from Israel
Please feel free to post this Purim Dvar Torah and to forward it to friends, family and Jewish lists and please print and distribute.
If you wish to help us print and distribute our news and Torah commentary in the spirit of the Jewish Idea, please sponsor additional publishing. We could use your help to spread our vital message to save Israel. Donate via paypal-
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=G387MEST7M2AU or send a generous contribution to Mishal Yisrael POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel – Purim Sameach!
Main message of Purim: Them or us!
The Talmud in Tractate Megilla, 11a states, Rabbi Levi summarizes in one verse the essence of the Megillah and of the holiday of Purim by quoting the verse (Numbers 33) “If you do not disinherit the inhabitants of the land (drive them out).”
This is a baffling statement. After all, what does driving the gentiles out of Israel have to do with Purim? This question is only strengthened when we take into account that the holiday of Purim occurred in exile, in Persia, and has nothing to do with Eretz Israel.
An additional question can be asked with regard to the specific verse that Rabbi Levi quoted. The verse states that if we are reluctant to expel the nations from the land of Israel they will remain as thorns in our sides. And as the commentaries explain, they will yet arm themselves to chase us out of the land.
Must this be so? Why can’t there be coexistence between Jews and Arabs? Why is the Torah so negative about the prospects for peace?
Why was Esther initially unsuccessful in nullifying the evil decree against the Jews?
Another question begs to be asked. We learn from the Megillah that the actual decree against the Jews was requested by Haman and approved by King Ahashverosh on the 13th of Nissan, 11 months before the day designated for the Holocaust in Adar. Esther did succeed in convincing Ahashverosh to hang Haman three days after the initial decree was passed, when she pleaded before Ahashverosh at the grand party. However, the decree to annihilate the Jews was not nullified until the 23rd of Sivan, 70 days later. Why was Esther unable to have the order rescinded earlier? What was lacking in her approach?
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi Of Zefat, asks this question and offers the following explanation based on a story told in the Zohar.
Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, was with his friends in a field when he spotted a snake. The snake was chasing someone and was about to kill him when Rabbi Elazar spoke to the animal, calling upon him to leave the Jew alone, since he had repented and no longer merited to be killed. The snake stopped in his path and froze. And in spite of the fact that Rav Elazar repeated his words three times, the snake refused to move further.
The snake did not, in fact, leave until Rav Elazar called upon it to attack an evil gentile in a nearby village. Rabbi Elazar explained to his baffled friends that the snake was sent on a mission to bite and kill someone, and he would not leave until he was given an alternative victim.
Rabbi Eliyahu continued to explain that like Rabbi Elazar, who only understood on his third attempt, so, too, Esther Hamalka only grasped belatedly that the decree against the Jews would only be rescinded when she again appealed to Ahashverosh for permission to annihilate the Jew-haters who wished her people harm.
As long as they are here there is no hope for peace and security
The time has come for us to finally understand that there is no vacuum in the world. Israel belongs either to the Jews or to the Arabs. We will not inherit the land until we disinherit our enemies.
We can now understand the words of Rabbi Levi who summarized the holiday of Purim with the verse that tells us that we must disinherit the inhabitants.
This explanation can help us answer some additional questions related to the holiday of Purim. Why is Purim called Purim in plural and not Pur in singular if the holiday is in commemoration of the lots drawn by Haman? And how was the bloodthirsty Jew-hating Haman able to restrain himself for 11 months – to wait until Adar to massacre the Jews? And why was he complacent regarding the proposed date of the deed? Was he not aware that Adar is a lucky month for Jews?
After Rabbi Eliyahu’s explanation we can now answer all of the above. Indeed there is no salvation for the Jew from the jaws of his enemies until there is a reverse decree and a concurrent effort by the Jew to destroy those enemies.
Put bluntly, there are two lots for the Jew, and he has the freedom to choose – between life and death, mitzvah and sin, because good and evil cannot coexist forever. Ultimately there will be no place left to run. A choice must be made. Loving good without hating evil is a contradiction that cannot persist!
The month of Adar could be a horrible month for Jews or a wonderful month. And this is why the holiday is called Purim in the plural, because both lots are available for the month of Adar. By doing Teshuva and initiating a reversal of the decree on their enemies, the Jews emerged victorious. Haman was actually correct in his calculations of Adar as the graveyard month for the Jews. However, he did not consider the possibility of teshuva, the factor that reversed the decree and led to his undoing.
Thin line between righteous and evil
From here we learn one of the great secrets of Judaism – the balance between good and evil, between sweet and bitter, is more delicate than we realize. A mere hair separates a a bitter defeat from a resoundingly sweet victory. How true this is with all of our personal conflicts. On the one hand, yes, we can do Teshuva and draw strength away from the evil inclination, overcoming great obstacles on our way to personal betterment. On the other, how easy and quick it is to slip and fall from the path of righteousness. Perhaps this explains how Yehoash is referred to in Kings II as a righteous man and in Chronicles as an evil murderer. The same man, the same Bible, two opposite classifications.
In Hebrew similar roots to opposite concepts and anthonyms
Rabbi Meir Kahane OB”M explains the phenomenon of Hebrew words with distinctly opposite meanings that share the same or similar roots.
The Holy language is like no other language. The world was created through Hebrew and is not like other languages that were created by people. Hebrew was created by G-d and planned out by the Holy of Holies. In every word there are secrets and hints, each connected to each other, with lessons and morals to be learned. Sometimes, too, opposite words come from the same root to teach us that man has free will to choose between good and evil, both of which emanate from the same source. (See Or Haraayon page 17 and Sefer Hamakabee on Shemot, page 156.)
We can now understand the equation made by the rabbis comparing Purim to Yom Kippur, as well as the two goats – one for Hashem and one for Azazel – that are offered on Yom Kippur. There are many other examples from the Bible where two apparently opposite forces appear the same or emanate from a common root.
Temple Mount and Amalek – prime examples
We’ve all witnessed the unprecedented impurity and incitement against Israel that emanates from the Temple Mount, from the Mosques that replaced the Holy Temple on Judaism’s holiest site. It’s difficult to conceive that today in a sovereign State of Israel, the world’s holiest site is occupied by the most extreme forces of impurity and corruption and hatred of the Jew and his G-d.
Similarly, our Rabbis learn that the verse about Amalek that refers to G-d’s throne with a missing letter, shows us that as long as Amalek is alive in this world, G-d’s throne will not be whole.
Rabbi Kahane summarizes this idea in Or HaRaayon, page 53, explaining the halachic obligation to drink on Purim until we can no longer distinguish between blessing Mordecai and cursing Haman. The Rav explains there that the essence of this halacha is not, G-d forbid, to reach a level of drunkenness where one can not distinguish between Haman and Mordecai, but rather to drink until we understand that there is no difference between blessing Mordecai or cursing Haman – both are the same mitzvah – to praise the righteous and curse the evil. In fact, one cannot fulfill the mitzvah of loving good unless he truly hates evil.
If you appreciated this dvar Torah and wish to help us print and distribute our news and Torah commentary in the spirit of the Jewish Idea, please sponsor additional publishing. We could use your help to spread our vital message to save Israel. Donate via paypal-
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=G387MEST7M2AU
or send a generous contribution to Mishal Yisrael POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel – Purim Sameach!
Please feel free to post this Purim Dvar Torah and to forward it to friends, family and Jewish lists and please print and distribute.
If you wish to help us print and distribute our news and Torah commentary in the spirit of the Jewish Idea, please sponsor additional publishing. We could use your help to spread our vital message to save Israel. Donate via paypal-
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=G387MEST7M2AU or send a generous contribution to Mishal Yisrael POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel – Purim Sameach!
Main message of Purim: Them or us!
The Talmud in Tractate Megilla, 11a states, Rabbi Levi summarizes in one verse the essence of the Megillah and of the holiday of Purim by quoting the verse (Numbers 33) “If you do not disinherit the inhabitants of the land (drive them out).”
This is a baffling statement. After all, what does driving the gentiles out of Israel have to do with Purim? This question is only strengthened when we take into account that the holiday of Purim occurred in exile, in Persia, and has nothing to do with Eretz Israel.
An additional question can be asked with regard to the specific verse that Rabbi Levi quoted. The verse states that if we are reluctant to expel the nations from the land of Israel they will remain as thorns in our sides. And as the commentaries explain, they will yet arm themselves to chase us out of the land.
Must this be so? Why can’t there be coexistence between Jews and Arabs? Why is the Torah so negative about the prospects for peace?
Why was Esther initially unsuccessful in nullifying the evil decree against the Jews?
Another question begs to be asked. We learn from the Megillah that the actual decree against the Jews was requested by Haman and approved by King Ahashverosh on the 13th of Nissan, 11 months before the day designated for the Holocaust in Adar. Esther did succeed in convincing Ahashverosh to hang Haman three days after the initial decree was passed, when she pleaded before Ahashverosh at the grand party. However, the decree to annihilate the Jews was not nullified until the 23rd of Sivan, 70 days later. Why was Esther unable to have the order rescinded earlier? What was lacking in her approach?
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi Of Zefat, asks this question and offers the following explanation based on a story told in the Zohar.
Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, was with his friends in a field when he spotted a snake. The snake was chasing someone and was about to kill him when Rabbi Elazar spoke to the animal, calling upon him to leave the Jew alone, since he had repented and no longer merited to be killed. The snake stopped in his path and froze. And in spite of the fact that Rav Elazar repeated his words three times, the snake refused to move further.
The snake did not, in fact, leave until Rav Elazar called upon it to attack an evil gentile in a nearby village. Rabbi Elazar explained to his baffled friends that the snake was sent on a mission to bite and kill someone, and he would not leave until he was given an alternative victim.
Rabbi Eliyahu continued to explain that like Rabbi Elazar, who only understood on his third attempt, so, too, Esther Hamalka only grasped belatedly that the decree against the Jews would only be rescinded when she again appealed to Ahashverosh for permission to annihilate the Jew-haters who wished her people harm.
As long as they are here there is no hope for peace and security
The time has come for us to finally understand that there is no vacuum in the world. Israel belongs either to the Jews or to the Arabs. We will not inherit the land until we disinherit our enemies.
We can now understand the words of Rabbi Levi who summarized the holiday of Purim with the verse that tells us that we must disinherit the inhabitants.
This explanation can help us answer some additional questions related to the holiday of Purim. Why is Purim called Purim in plural and not Pur in singular if the holiday is in commemoration of the lots drawn by Haman? And how was the bloodthirsty Jew-hating Haman able to restrain himself for 11 months – to wait until Adar to massacre the Jews? And why was he complacent regarding the proposed date of the deed? Was he not aware that Adar is a lucky month for Jews?
After Rabbi Eliyahu’s explanation we can now answer all of the above. Indeed there is no salvation for the Jew from the jaws of his enemies until there is a reverse decree and a concurrent effort by the Jew to destroy those enemies.
Put bluntly, there are two lots for the Jew, and he has the freedom to choose – between life and death, mitzvah and sin, because good and evil cannot coexist forever. Ultimately there will be no place left to run. A choice must be made. Loving good without hating evil is a contradiction that cannot persist!
The month of Adar could be a horrible month for Jews or a wonderful month. And this is why the holiday is called Purim in the plural, because both lots are available for the month of Adar. By doing Teshuva and initiating a reversal of the decree on their enemies, the Jews emerged victorious. Haman was actually correct in his calculations of Adar as the graveyard month for the Jews. However, he did not consider the possibility of teshuva, the factor that reversed the decree and led to his undoing.
Thin line between righteous and evil
From here we learn one of the great secrets of Judaism – the balance between good and evil, between sweet and bitter, is more delicate than we realize. A mere hair separates a a bitter defeat from a resoundingly sweet victory. How true this is with all of our personal conflicts. On the one hand, yes, we can do Teshuva and draw strength away from the evil inclination, overcoming great obstacles on our way to personal betterment. On the other, how easy and quick it is to slip and fall from the path of righteousness. Perhaps this explains how Yehoash is referred to in Kings II as a righteous man and in Chronicles as an evil murderer. The same man, the same Bible, two opposite classifications.
In Hebrew similar roots to opposite concepts and anthonyms
Rabbi Meir Kahane OB”M explains the phenomenon of Hebrew words with distinctly opposite meanings that share the same or similar roots.
The Holy language is like no other language. The world was created through Hebrew and is not like other languages that were created by people. Hebrew was created by G-d and planned out by the Holy of Holies. In every word there are secrets and hints, each connected to each other, with lessons and morals to be learned. Sometimes, too, opposite words come from the same root to teach us that man has free will to choose between good and evil, both of which emanate from the same source. (See Or Haraayon page 17 and Sefer Hamakabee on Shemot, page 156.)
We can now understand the equation made by the rabbis comparing Purim to Yom Kippur, as well as the two goats – one for Hashem and one for Azazel – that are offered on Yom Kippur. There are many other examples from the Bible where two apparently opposite forces appear the same or emanate from a common root.
Temple Mount and Amalek – prime examples
We’ve all witnessed the unprecedented impurity and incitement against Israel that emanates from the Temple Mount, from the Mosques that replaced the Holy Temple on Judaism’s holiest site. It’s difficult to conceive that today in a sovereign State of Israel, the world’s holiest site is occupied by the most extreme forces of impurity and corruption and hatred of the Jew and his G-d.
Similarly, our Rabbis learn that the verse about Amalek that refers to G-d’s throne with a missing letter, shows us that as long as Amalek is alive in this world, G-d’s throne will not be whole.
Rabbi Kahane summarizes this idea in Or HaRaayon, page 53, explaining the halachic obligation to drink on Purim until we can no longer distinguish between blessing Mordecai and cursing Haman. The Rav explains there that the essence of this halacha is not, G-d forbid, to reach a level of drunkenness where one can not distinguish between Haman and Mordecai, but rather to drink until we understand that there is no difference between blessing Mordecai or cursing Haman – both are the same mitzvah – to praise the righteous and curse the evil. In fact, one cannot fulfill the mitzvah of loving good unless he truly hates evil.
If you appreciated this dvar Torah and wish to help us print and distribute our news and Torah commentary in the spirit of the Jewish Idea, please sponsor additional publishing. We could use your help to spread our vital message to save Israel. Donate via paypal-
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=G387MEST7M2AU
or send a generous contribution to Mishal Yisrael POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel – Purim Sameach!
The Torah Revolution: Main message of Purim by Yekutiel Guzofsky
RonMossad: The sanction of the victim and the guiltiest man in the room, Part IV: ANTHEM
The sanction of the victim and the guiltiest man in the room, Part IV: ANTHEM
This post is the fourth and final part of a multi-part series on the stubborn habit of Jews to perpetuate situations where they are the victims of their own actions. If you haven't read Part I, Part II or Part III yet, I encourage you to check them out before continuing. If you're pressed for time, while highly recommended, it isn't required to go back in order to understand what we're talking about in this post.
____________________________________________
If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli.
--Hasan Nasrallah
I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.
--John Galt
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת-חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי, אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם
Ye shall therefore keep My statutes, and Mine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them:
--Leviticus 18:5
Better to die standing, than to live on your knees.
--Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
____________________________________________
PART FOUR: ANTHEM
So now we know the issue, we know the how and we know the why.
The ISSUE is the perplexing, self-defeating behavior of Jews throughout history, the HOW is the aid given to our enemies that gives them the ability to fight and kill us and the WHY is because we have been hard-wired by 2,000 years of oppression, pain and sorrow to be docile and think that it is righteous to not resist our enemies.
The real question is WHAT do we do about it? Because there is only so far a culture of acceptance and quiet kvetching can take you and the result is a malaise that has been steadily creeping over Jews for the past several centuries.
It is that which cannot be said. Everyone knows it's there, but no one dares to speak openly about it...
We all try to ignore the reality that it is this very same unspoken feeling of melancholy and emptiness that has driven Jews to seek Buddhism or Islam or Christmas trees or Marxism or pathetic attempts to emulate hip hop culture or blind pursuit of hedge fund success at the expense of their pride and heritage. And it makes sense that this would happen...because WHO could be attached to a culture that glorifies appeasement and docility?
This is why early Zionists changed their last names, forced everyone to learn Hebrew and mocked Yiddish as a language of the oppressed. It was a clean break from the embarrassment of 2,000 years of abuse at the hands of our hosts. This is also why today it is so hard for Israelis to clarify the justification for going to war to protect themselves...to them it should be self-evident to anyone reads history!
And this is why Che Guevara and Yasir Arafat are so attractive to misguided "liberal" American youths. I used to think that it was simple ignorance that caused college students to follow these barbarians but it goes much deeper than that. While they often are ignorant of what their heroes are actually guilty of, even when the truth is brought to them they often STILL follow them...because even a flawed hero is still a hero.
Who are the modern Jewish heroes? Where are they? Ask the average American Jew and what would they say? Jon Stewart? Steven Spielberg? Adam Sandler? Ari Gold?
Famous? Sure. Successful? Filthy rich? Absolutely. But you're not exactly going to be studying them in college as revolutionary figures or instruments of social change, are you? In fact the only one among them you could perceive as "strong" or "brave" or "intimidating" is a completely fictional character! You're not going to get young Jews excited to emulate these people. When children and teenagers have no one to emulate, they're going to look outside the box for them and they're going to be ripe targets for missionaries, demagogues and worse.
They're going to leave their culture and idolize other cultures instead. And all the money their parents spent on Hebrew schools and bar mitzvah lessons will be wasted when Adam comes home with a beard and tells his family he's going to "study" to Pakistan. Or Rachel decides to go on a "humanitarian mission" to Gaza and doesn't understand why her previously tolerant parents are so upset when she tells them. This is of course assuming the parents even bothered to care about the cultural identity of their children...a trend that has been distinctly on the negative side for the past three generations at least...which not-so-oddly also coincides with the declining size of the community.
The future certainly looks grim for non-Orthodox Judaism.
As if this wasn't enough of an issue there is still the Talmudic prohibition against re=establishing a state and army in the absence of the messiah. Because we sinned and have been exiled, the rabbis who survived the disastrous Bar Kochba revolt surmised that we had best sit quietly and try to get along with our new overlords.
And so it goes...we continue to tread water...doing just enough to get from one generation to another...taking unimaginable losses all along the way...paralyzed by our own indifference and just hoping not to finally get swept under a tide that gets higher and more dangerous with every passing day.
What is the answer to this malaise? How do we break out from 2,000 years of docility? Or do we give up? Accept our own victimhood and impending doom? Sanction our own destruction?
No my friends, this is not the answer. The time has come to put this policy to bed once and for all.
First on the religious level. While Judaism's docility has been well-established over the years, there is a very strict RELIGIOUS prohibition against suicide or suicidal behavior as well as a very strict emphasis on self-preservation. There is also exists a concept in Judaism of פיקוח נפש (transliterated as pikuach nefesh) - literally "saving a soul/life" which overrules almost all other commandments...even many of the 10 Commandments themselves.
There is no QUESTION that the State of Israel has saved the lives of thousands, if not millions of people who would otherwise be doomed to persecution, oppression and in some cases starvation. And lest you think that this service provided by Israel is limited to just Jews - ask yourselves this question...why would a cash-strapped Jewish state that is embroiled in a perpetual state of war with its neighbors spend resources to assist with tsunami and earthquake search and rescue efforts? Please note the Haiti link was about a specific team of ULTRA-ORTHODOX Israeli Jews who were violating the sabbath to save the lives of people they never met and should never have even come across.
In fact, it was widely reported that for days, Israel's field hospital was the only one able to perform at any acceptable level in Haiti. So Israel saves lives, both Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and non-religious. That alone should be enough of a reason for all Orthodox Jews to embrace a state that everyday provides a literal life-saving function for people all over the world as well as a cultural, religious and spiritual life-saving function for Jews who would otherwise be lost to the tide of assimilation. It may not be the religious, messiah-driven state they crave but for now it sure serves a purpose that they should rush to embrace (and many - but not all- do).
Furthermore, our pact with the nations we were exiled to was supposed to be a two-way street. We were supposed to behave like good little refugees and they were supposed to let us be. It's time to face the facts (as early Zionists did in the 1800's) that they did NOT hold up their end of the deal. Not taking steps to protect ourselves is a violation of the commandment against suicide. Giving up our lives to adhere to a rabbinical decree from 2,000 years ago is not only insane, it is a DIRECT VIOLATION of Jewish law. This is FACT. In a post-2nd Temple world this decision made sense...in a post-Holocaust world it no longer does. The Neturei Karta, for all their black hats, white beards and Talmud-quoting signs and pamplets are WRONG. This is also FACT.
So religiously we can follow God and take inspiration from the Bible. But what to do about the secular Jews? Where do they get their inspiration from? How do we replace Guevara and Chavez and Arafat if all we have are Sandler, Spielberg and Stewart? Or worse, total embarrassments like Chomsky and Finkelstein. Where are our revolutionaries? Where are our heroes? And what can we do about the perception that we're all nerdy accountants?
Well, first we start out by pointing out that the perception is WRONG.
We're not ALL accountants
You see we DO have our own strong heroes, revolutionaries and role models. They're just currently labeled as "Zionists" rather than Jews and are part of "Israeli history" instead of Jewish history. Theodore Herzl. David Ben-Gurion. Golda Meir. Why wear a Che Guevara t-shirt when Vladmir "Ze'ev" Jabotinsky was twice the warrior he was with none of the communist dictatorship baggage? Italians have Italy, Brazilians have Brazil and Jews has ISRAEL. Even if we don't live there or have never been there, why can't we idolize these Zionists, these Jews, these non-victims?
Unabashed, unafraid, unapologetic ZIONISM is the answer to our Jewish malaise problem. JEWISH nationalism, an impossible 2,000 year old dream that has actually been REALIZED. We don't need to be victims anymore. We don't need to play their game anymore. We don't need to play by their rules anymore!
"If it is now the belief of my fellow men, who call themselves the public, that their good requires victims, then I say: The public good be damned, I will have no part of it!"
--Hank Reardon
I will no longer be a victim.
I will no longer apologize for my success.
I will no longer be afraid to stand up for myself and defend the Jewish homeland, MY homeland, Israel.
I will no longer feel that I have to prove my loyalty to whatever country I live in by going against my homeland of Israel.
I will no longer allow the hypocrites around me to make me feel as if I need to prove my docility.
I will no longer abide by everyone else's nonsensical, politically correct definitions of right and wrong or their expectations for Jews, for Israel and for me.
I am NOT a Jewish American who is pro-Israel.
That is a passive statement similar to saying that you're pro-freedom or pro-money or pro-food or pro-happiness. Of course I am in favor of a Jewish country...that should be a given for EVERYONE regardless of who they are or what their political ideology is.
What I am, is a JEWISH AMERICAN ZIONIST.
I believe that Jews are no longer the world's victims, to be used and abused as they were throughout history. I believe that the Jewish homeland is Israel even if I don't live there and never intend to. I believe that just as the Italian national home is Italy regardless of where an Italian lives, so to is Israel the Jewish national home regardless of where a Jew finds him or herself. I believe that I must actively take steps to prevent myself, my family and my friends from being abused. I believe that I control my own destiny and no one has a right to choose my path for me, but me.
And I believe that it is not my responsibility to clean up the messes created by others. It is not my fault that other ethnic groups have also been beaten down over time. I will have solidarity with them, empathy for them and do whatever I can to help them to reach the levels of success that I have achieved.
But it is not my obligation and it will NOT achieved at my expense. I will NOT sacrifice my own future for a parasite that will end up destroying both of us. And I am finished with allowing others to guilt me into believing that there is something wrong with this way of thinking. I will no longer be the guiltiest man in the room because I know better and I will act on that knowledge.
אִם אֵן אַנִי לִי מִי לִי
וּכשְׁאַנִי לְעַצְמִי מָה אַנִי
וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו אֵימָתַי
If I am not for myself, then who will be?
When I am only for myself, what am I?
And if not now, then when?
--Ethics of our Fathers
This is my belief. This is my pledge.
And this applies to Israeli Jews as well as non-Israelis. Just because the Palestinians got the short end of the stick after the British and French carved up the Ottoman Empire and created a bunch of artificial states that were doomed to failure from the start, does not mean that the residents of Sderot need to live in a perpetual state of terror. Just because the Palestinians were abandoned and sold out by their disorganized Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, Saudi Arabian, Lebanese and Iraqi cousins does not mean that a Jewish family should not be allowed to live in Hebron. Just because their great-great-grandparents didn't think to hold onto their land deeds under the Ottomans or that their grandparents thought they'd be better off trying to push the Jews into the sea doesn't mean that I should sacrifice my capital to atone for it. Just because they couldn't live next to the Jews and instead started THREE wars that they lost doesn't mean that I need to fund their terrorist, dictatorial regime.
It's not my problem. Just because I am successful, it does not mean that I deserve to be sacrificed to those who are not so that they should live and I should not.
It is only if the Jewish community of the Diaspora adopts this same mentality, this anthem, this pledge to leave the shackles of victimhood behind that it will be able to reverse what appears to be an inevitable decline and disappearance into the irrelevance of assimilation. If not now...when?
These rules that we think we've set for ourselves but really have been set FOR us by faceless ancestors are impossible to follow. This game we've engaged ourselves in is impossible to win and if we continue to play it we are doomed to fail.
But the beauty of life is that we always, always have a choice.
Like Hank, I finally choose NOT to play their game.
And so should you.
RonMossad: The sanction of the victim and the guiltiest man in the room, Part IV: ANTHEM
Israel Matzav: Ahmadinejad's 'New Middle East'
Ahmadinejad's 'New Middle East'
Many of us on the Right in this country joke about Shimon Peres' 'New Middle East,' the Messianic vision where the lambs and the wolves lie down together. It will happen, God willing, when the Messiah comes.Back in the present, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in Damascus on Thursday, where he set out his vision for a 'New Middle East.'
Arab nations will usher in a new Middle East "without Zionists and without colonialists," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday.
Ahmadinejad spoke Thursday during a trip to Syria. The trip follows a string of US efforts to break up Syria's 30-year alliance with Tehran.
He said that "if the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will bring about its demise and annihilation."
Assad must be feeling pretty good about himself. The very week that the United States agrees to send an ambassador to Syria, he has a visit from his good friend Ahmadinejad whom the United States is trying to get him to abandon. Talk about actions having no consequences.
Alas, peace in the Middle East is unlikely in your time or mine, but the road map to starting the process is at the top of this post.
Alas, peace in the Middle East is unlikely in your time or mine, but the road map to starting the process is at the top of this post.
Israel Matzav: Ahmadinejad's 'New Middle East'
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