Parshas Chaye Sarah – FINDING THE SOURCE OF PURITY

FINDING THE SOURCE OF PURITY

By Roy S. Neuberger

“How did Avraham discover the Cave of Machpela? He was running after a calf, as it is written, ‘Then Avraham ran to the herd,’ (Beraishis 18:7) The calf fled into the cave [and] Avraham followed it …. Also, he used to pray every day and go out into the field, from which wafted sublime fragrances. He saw a light coming from that cave and prayed there and the Holy One Blessed is He spoke to him there. Therefore, he desired that cave….” (Zohar 1:127a)

Tzaddikim desire to be in a place of kedusha.

“The Patriarch Avraham entered [the Cave of Machpela]. He smelled the fragrance of the Garden of Eden. He heard the heavenly angels saying, ‘Adam is buried there; Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov are destined for this place.’ And he saw the candle lit…. Before Avraham came, many wanted to be buried there, but angels were guarding the place…. People saw a fire burning in it and could not enter until Avraham came, entered and acquired the place.” (Zohar Chadash, Rus 79b)

We recently davened maariv at Ma’aras Hamachpela. I thought it particularly appropriate, because the illumination emanating from this holy place is the only source of light. Here – surrounded by over a hundred thousand hostile inhabitants of Chevron – Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivka, Yaakov and Leah rest at the entrance to Gan Eden. 

My friends, we are all surrounded by hostile enemies. The light emanating from Gan Eden is the only thing we have to hang onto. The perfect fragrance wafting from this place is where our desires should be directed. As Hashem says, “Fear not, Avram, I am a shield for you!” (Beraishis 15:1) Similarly, the Novi tells us, “Hashem has redeemed Yaakov and delivered him from a power mightier than he.” (Yirmiah 31:10)

This week my wife and I spoke at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, home of Rabbi Fully Eisenberger’s legendary Jewish Resource Center (JRC). There are almost 45,000 students here and I don’t have to tell you what a field day the yetzer hara has in this boiling stew of liberalism. It always amazes us that, amidst the challenges, there are still people searching for the pure light and holy aroma. This is the legacy of Avraham Avinu. It is also the legacy of those who survived mem-tes shaarei tumah in Mitzraim, Churban Bais Hamikdosh and Churban Europe. It is the legacy of those who have survived two thousand years of Golus with their souls unblemished. 

“Israel, Your people, prepares supplication because they are distressed and need to be helped. Their oppressors prolong the yoke upon them … all this has befallen them, but they bless Your Name.” (Selichos for BEHAB)

One can find the entrance to Gan Eden. We can imitate our Father Avraham.

Soon, the day will come when “ohr chadash al Tzion ta’ir … [Hashem] shines a new light on Tzion … and may we all speedily merit its light!” (Shacharis)

 

Surrounded by enemies: Ma’aras Hamachpela 

viewed from the site of Dovid Hamelech’s palace 

high above the City of Chevron

Davening maariv at Ma’aras Hamachpela

Rabbi Fully Eisenberger (left) with the author and a student at the University of Michigan JRC in Ann Arbor

*          *          *

Roy Neuberger, author and public speaker, can be reached at roy@2020vision.co.il.

© Copyright 2019 by Roy S. Neuberger

Rabbi Winston – Parshas Chaye Sarah

And Sarah died in Kiryat Arba, which is Chevron, in the land of Canaan, and Avraham came to eulogize Sarah and to cry for her. (Bereishis 22:12)

THE TORAH IS not about drama, clearly. Had this been a Hollywood production, the end of last week’s parsha and the beginning of this one would be a LOT different. Sarah didn’t just die. The Akeidah KILLED her, and the Torah says NOTHING about it.

For those who do not know, the Midrash says that Sarah had been unaware of Avraham’s mission. However, Og somehow knew, and he went and told Sarah that the son she had waited her entire life for was about to be slaughtered to G–D by her husband. He even lifted her up so she could verify his words by seeing in the distance. He was a giant so that when he raised her she was higher up.

According to some, her soul left her when she saw Avraham take the knife to slaughter Yitzchak. Some say she died when saw him abstain, not knowing that it was an angel who stopped him. But everyone agrees that she died at the climax of the Akeidah.

The Ohr HaChaim introduces a little Kabbalah to help explain the tragic and shocking death of Sarah Imeinu. It was her final tikun, and the Torah testifies to the level of personal perfection she reached, undoubtedly due also to her final moments of life. 

But imagine the shock of Avraham Avinu upon returning home and finding out what had happened in his absence, and why. It was long before the time of social media, and he probably would have had poor reception anyhow. He did not have much time to prepare for the news, if any at all.

And imagine the disappointment! He thought he had “won,” meaning that he had gone the full distance and was ready to sacrifice Yitzchak. Then he received the good news that he didn’t actually have to go that far, and that Yitzchak would survive, marry, and have children. He had had his cake, and ate it too…so he had been led to believe.

Then he came home and received the tragic news. His beloved Sarah was gone, and because of the Akeidah too. She died thinking that her only son had been slaughtered, and yet he hadn’t, or according to the other opinion, that he hadn’t been slaughtered has G–D had commanded, but only because G–D had commanded it. How could he not have felt great anguish about that?

As if to add salt to the wound, he couldn’t even just bury Sarah…even in the land destined to be his. He had to bargain for a burial spot with some of the lowlifes of the land, and pay top dollar for his OWN inheritance. And he had to do all of that without questioning G–D’s plans at all (Sanhedrin 111a).

In general, we know that one plus one equals two. Two plus two equals four. And it is so nice that it does, because it makes life so predictable and therefore, controllable. We go to bed each night with the confidence that the sun will rise again the next morning. Without that confidence, it would be difficult to relax and fall asleep, like during a war when bombs are falling all around increasing the chances of one hitting your bunker.

Then there comes a time when one plus one does NOT equal two, like it should, and the sun does NOT rise the next day as normal. We do not understand that just because Avraham followed the command of G–D and loyally brought up his son as a sacrifice, he should lose his beloved wife, and not even be there to say goodbye? Because he sacrificed his “normalcy” to follow G–D, he should have to be tested over-and-over-and-over again?

I’ll speak for myself. I have no delusions about my personal level of righteousness. False humility aside, I know I am lucky to be alive. My continued existence is a testimony to G–D’s immense mercy. Really.

Yet, like the Talmud says, I expect the reward of the righteous. I HATE when things go south in life. I REALLY hate when they go wrong after I have tried so hard to make them go right. And I really feel victimized when things go awry out of “nowhere,” when I am just thrown into what seems to be have been an impossible situation. People second-guess G–D after a lot less.

Even Moshe Rabbeinu was chastised by G–D for doubting His actions. Moshe had gone down to Egypt to free the Jewish people and ended up causing their slavery to worsen. It upset him, and he questioned G–D about it Who, the Talmud says, expressed His disappointment in Moshe (Sanhedrin 111a) though, quite frankly, it is hard not to relate to Moshe’s position.

So what was it, blind faith? Is that what separated the Avos from the rest of us? They were able to blindly follow G–D while the rest of us want, NEED to understand G–D’s method behind what we perceive to be madness. 

It was faith, but it was far from blind. It was faith in the knowledge that once you throw your lot in with G–D, He throws His lot in with you. He may make it rain on your parade, or worse, a lot worse. But it doesn’t mean He is against you, and or even just ignoring you. It means that he’s dealing with you on a level too deep for you to comprehend at the moment. 

You don’t have to. You just have to comprehend that this is the case, INTELLECTUALLY and EMOTIONALLY. In practice, we have Nachum Ish Gamzu as a great example. Whatever went wrong, he always said “This too is for the good.” 

But he didn’t just say it with his lips. 

He said it with his heart. 

This is never an overnight process. It’s one that comes from years trying to get to know G–D on the most intimate level humanly possible. It comes from becoming so familiar with His plan for Creation that hester panim, the hiding of G–D’s face, becomes impossible to you. If you know every place someone hides during hide-and-go-seek, they’re basically found before they even start.

Hester panim is only for the people who “allow” G–D to hide. By living superficially and by just “going with the flow,” taking things in stride as they happen to come up, a person can become desensitized to Divine Providence. So when it finally enters their life—in an upbeat way or the opposite—it comes as a great surprise, one that is usually not appreciated by most people for the spiritual opportunity it is meant to be. 

The military deals with this in physical combat training. They train their soldiers to become so familiar what their environment around them and how to respond to it in order to take the guess work out of their missions. Success or failure can be split seconds away from each other.

Torah is supposed to train us to do the same spiritually. I would go even so far as to say that when Avraham came home and found out that Sarah had died, and how, he had not been surprised. They had loved each other immensely, and they had been one. But he had been one with G–D the most, and that is what gave him, and can give us, the ability to deal with our challenges and disappointments without sacrificing any loyalty to G–D.

Rabbi Kahana – Where is Avraham Aveinu of our Time?

BS”D 

Parashat Chayai Sarah 5780

Rabbi Nachman Kahana

Where is the Avraham Aveinu (Our Father Avraham) of our Time?

Jewish tradition relates that God put Avraham Avinu through ten tests. The ninth was the “binding of Yitzchak” (Akeidat Yitzchak), and the tenth was the real estate negotiations between Avraham and the Hittite Council of Elders for the purchase of Ma’arat Ha’machpela as a burial site for Sarah.

Logic dictates that in an ongoing series of tests and trials each one is more challenging than its predecessor. So, what was the focus of Avraham’s last test that caused it to be more difficult than the Akeida? Was it the necessity to deal with worldly matters of “real estate” while in the midst of a profound emotional crisis at the loss of his beloved Sarah? Perhaps! Was it his being taken advantage of by the unscrupulous Efron the Hittite, who charged 400 shekels for a burial site that was not worth nearly that much? Perhaps! These were indeed aggravating realities, but the real hard core of the test, I believe, ran far deeper into the area which was to impact upon Jewish history.

A fundamental religious principle appears in many of our classical commentaries and responsa: “The actions of the fathers (Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov) guide their children (the Jewish people) along the path to redemption.” The moment of truth came when Avraham, despite the ramifications of what he was presently going to do, stood up before the Hittite council of elders and proclaimed: “I am a stranger and a resident among you.” Rashi quotes the Midrash that explains what Avraham meant: “If you wish [to sell the burial site], I will act as a stranger who recognizes your right of ownership over the area; but if you do not [sell me the burial site], I will implement my right of sovereignty and seize the land by virtue of God’s promise to me, ‘And to your children will I give this land’.”

Recall that Avraham was told by HaShem to leave his land, his birthplace and his father’s home to take up residence in a land which HaShem would identify later. At that time, Europe was desolate, as were most parts of Africa and Asia and even more so the Americas. However, instead of sending Avraham to establish a Jewish State in an unpopulated area where there would be no protest, HaShem directed him to the most populous area in the world – a thin sliver of land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea populated by seven nations numbering in the hundreds of thousands or even millions. Each of these peoples, all descendants of Cham the son of Noach, arrived in the land much before Avraham. They cultivated its fields, constructed buildings and established places of worship, which taken together served as a common civilization. At this junction in their history, a stranger arrives from the east and declares that he is the true sovereign over all the land, not just the area of Canaan, but of all the lands from the Euphrates in the north to the Nile in the south, and from the Mediterranean in the west to Mesopotamia in the east.

By this statement, Avraham challenged the rights of countless peoples who considered themselves owners of these lands by virtue of conquest and possession. This was an act of immense courage; because from that moment on, Avraham was perceived by all those people to be a threat to their way of life, to their very existence. “We were here before you! You are a foreign implant in the Middle East. We do not tolerate other beliefs!” Does this sound strangely familiar? Don’t we hear it daily from Arab spokesmen, echoing the feelings of the ancient children of Cham when reacting to Avraham’s declaration of sovereignty?

These anti-God, latter day advocates of denial spew their venom in the media, on campus, in the Security Council, on Capitol Hill, and on the Temple Mount. And we ask ourselves where is the Avraham of our generation who will stand up before the world and declare that Eretz Yisrael is our God given heritage? This is obviously too huge a test for today’s Jewish leaders, whether they be great talmidei chachamim who, almost to the man, advocate a low profile when dealing with Yishmael in the east and Esav in the west or the secular Jews who believe that our ties to the land are historic and do not stem from God’s promise to our forefathers.

If I were to merit the opportunity to stand before an international forum, I would shout the words of Avraham Avinu that, although we recognize certain individual rights of non-Jews in the Holy Land, God and His people Israel are the sovereigns over the entire Land of Israel.

The rejection of our sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael as being divinely given is the root cause of all our problems today in Eretz Yisrael.

In wake of the 1967 Six Day War, HaShem presented to Am Yisrael the entire area of Eretz Yisrael west of the Jordan river on a silver platter. The Jewish thing would have been to immediately erase the two abominations standing on the Temple Mount; annex all the areas of Shomron, Yehuda, Aza, and the Golan Heights into the State of Israel; open the bridges over the Jordan River and help, facilitate, and inspire all the Arabs to leave the country; begin an ambitious project of resettling the newly acquired land between the Sea and the River; open ever wider the gates of aliya for the millions who would have returned had the government acted according to the first four Jewish things.

However, since our leaders lack the Jewish pride exemplified by Avraham Avinu, we are witnessing the negation of everything which is right. The Temple Mount has become the focal point for Moslems in Eretz Yisrael, when on a Friday in Ramadan 300,000 Moslems ascend the Mount and turn their backs on Yerushalayim to face Mecca. And instead of diminishing the Arab population, our government turns a blind eye to polygamous Arab marriages (particularly among the Bedouin tribes) in which single families can number up to 75 and more children. The demographic problem is obvious.

All this because of the weakness of the “children” compared to the pride and strength of Avraham Avinu, who declared our God given sovereignty over every millimeter of this Holy Land. Fortunately, as in past desperate periods in our history, HaShem sends a leader who exhibits the Jewish pride exemplified by Avraham Avinu. When that day comes, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and all the other would-be Hitlers who slither around the planet will be no more. In their stead, the banners of the twelve Jewish tribes will be raised by the people who have returned to take possession of all of Eretz Yisrael.

Shabbat Shalom,

Nachman Kahana

Copyright © 5780/2019 Nachman Kahana

UPDATE to Food Scarcities Globally

Agriculture Crumbling, Kroger Goes Hydroponic, 
Thomas Jefferson's GSM



After the "Harvest from Hell", modern agriculture continues continues to deteriorate rapidly: sugar processors shutting down refineries. The worlds largest horseradish producer warning of shortages. Disasters declared across states. ASF spreading to Poland. Governments have near-perfect knowledge of production numbers.

 Thomas Jefferson describes the Dalton Minimum -- "Unprecedented." Kroger joins the retailers growing their own food, launching in-store hydroponic growing. Are you growing your own food too? Prepare now.

Wet, cold, snow, rain, freezing temps. contributing to the loss of agricultural food diversity.

all this happening this year = starvation next year

Global Warming anyone?

Article Links:

⇒ Join the email list - stay connected: http://iceagefarmer.com/mail

Thomas Jefferson on the Grand Solar Minimum http://wiki.iceagefarmer.com/wiki/His...

UMN Deep Winter Greenhouse: https://extension.umn.edu/growing-sys...

US Sugar processors shutting down: https://www.countingpips.com/2019/11/... https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/... https://www.crainsdetroit.com/jobs/su... And canneries: http://wvmetronews.com/2019/08/21/poo... https://iegvu.agribusinessintelligenc... Seed potatoes shortage expected: https://www.agweek.com/business/agric... https://www.idahopress.com/news/local... https://www.grandforksherald.com/inco... Martin Armstrong: the Coming Big Freeze: https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/wo... World's biggest Horseradish producer warns of shortage after cold, wet: https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/f... Canada: One Million acres of Canola freeze in fields: https://www.oann.com/millions-of-acre...

GrainCorp collapsing: https://au.investing.com/news/commodi... Michigan declares disaster: https://brownfieldagnews.com/news/mor... Kroger launches indoor growing: https://www.grocerydive.com/news/krog... Walmart's robotic bees: https://www.businessinsider.com/walma... Wendy's switches to indoor growing: https://www.agdaily.com/news/wendys-g... USDA relocating vs. Smart Farming / Precision AgTech: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/... https://www.iotforall.com/smart-farmi... https://www.climate.com/features/data...

"swords will be turned into plowshares” — A Lethal Flaw

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, boasted today that Hamas creates vast amounts of missiles using the very extensive agricultural pipe left behind when the Jewish farmers were expelled by Israel from Gaza in 2005.

He promised that he will bombard Israel for six months with the material that Israel left for him when the land was forfeited to Hamas.The terrorist leader was serving five life term sentences for the abduction and murder od, two Israeli boys when he was released by Israel in a one thousand one hundred prisoner exchange a few years ago.

The prophet Isaiah predicted that in the days of redemption,

"swords will be turned into plowshares” 

Our enemies are the exact flip side of this optimistic vision.

Is there anywhere where the juxtaposition of evil and good is as glaring as in this tiny corner of the world?

Is there any other place where pure evil and hopeless naivety and foolishness share a common border?

Perhaps in other places, foolishness is not a lethal fault.  Here [in Israel] it is.

Snap out of it!

Shalom Pollack Tours
Jerusalem
Jerusalem 99386
Israel

Rabbi Mizrachi —The Rising Destruction (read notation)

VERY INTERESTING: Rabbi Mizrachi clarifies some very relevant halachot for religious women
And informs much about the kosher meat halachot. Many religious women would want to learn these if one wants to intensify their spiritual endeavors.

Surely many know these, but nevertheless it is important to know the finer details.

President Trump Did NOT Have a Heart Attack:

This Is "Sadly America” President Trump (nearly ) Poisoned – Whitehouse Sources
By CD's Team - November 18, 2019



Jones just said his WH sources tell him that the reason behind Trump’s visit to to Walter Reed was over concerns that a slow acting poison may have been administered to Trump.

This is a time activated poison that would give them time to clean up food, dishes, etc, so they have a lead time.

Apparently one of his Secret Service food tasters became very sick from some substance in the food  (how sad that we’re at that point).

Related : Poll : Trump’s Number rises instantly, Biden’s crater as impeachment backfire’s

This is why he sends people out to get food at various restaurants – because of poisoning concerns. Jones says they don’t want to shoot him or assassinate him openly because they don’t want to make him a martyr. They want to poison or drug him so they can activate the 25th amendment.

Apparently there have been many attempts on his life and Jones says that a young Secret Service agent died in Scotland from something similar to cyanide poisoning. The agent was apparently very fit, and served as a food taster – had a stroke and dropped dead.

This is where we’re at people, impeach him or kill him…..

Source: conservativesdaily

REMINDER

A Ray of Light in the Controversy over Vaccines and Informed Consent

ALERT: Perilous Weather Approaching Israel

[These are the same “weather conditions” that created the most recent devastating outbreak of fires in California. Therefore, one should watch carefully any dry brush on their property, and maybe hose it down with water]

Israel is Experiencing Some Perilous Weather
A Week of Dry Winds 

NOVEMBER 18, 2019, 3:23 PM
Strong, dry winds spark fires around the country
Several beaches and hiking trails closed to public, JNF asks Israelis to stay away from forests amid unusually windy weather (timesofisrael)

NOVEMBER 11, 2019, 9:55 AM
Firefighters face more blazes in north amid unseasonable heat
Three lightly hurt in overnight fires near Nahalal, Karmiel, Afula and Haifa; firefighters go on high alert; heat wave expected to last till Thursday (timesofisrael)

NOVEMBER 10, 2019, 4:59 PM
Brushfires break out near Jerusalem, Hadera amid unseasonable heat and dryness
Firefighting crews and planes struggling to contain blaze near Tzur Hadassah before it reaches homes(timesofisrael)

the hills of Yerushalayim

vosizneias:  Hot and Dry conditions part fires in Northern Israel

ynetnews According to the Meteo-Tech meteorological company, winds in the northeastern Mediterranean Sea will reach speeds of up to 40 kph (25 mph), while the winds on the northern shores will reach the speed of up to 55 kph (34 mph). In the northern city of Haifa, the temperatures will range from 23 degrees celsius during the day Sunday to just 16 degrees at night. In Tel Aviv, the weather will be similar with a range of 24 degrees during the day and 15 degrees at night. In the southern city of Be’er Sheva, temperatures will range from 23 degrees throughout the day to 13 degrees at night. In Jerusalem, the temperatures will be cooler, reaching 17 degrees celsius during the day and falling to 10 degrees overnight. Despite the low temperatures, the weather will be dry and partly cloudy. Mist is expected in some parts of the country.

Hiking Trails Closing Ahead of Dangerous Weather Forecasts
By Hana Levi Julian JewishPress

The Nature and Parks Authority has announced it is closing a significant number of hiking trails throughout the country as of Monday ahead of potentially dangerous weather conditions.

“Due to extreme weather warnings, it is forbidden to take walks in several sites in the north of Israel from Monday the 18th until Wednesday the 20th,” reads an alert on the Authority website. Hikers are directed to call the Authority’s call center at *3639.

High winds began entering the region over the weekend, with temperatures dropping on Sunday and continuing to drop further on Monday. Meteorologists say the incoming weather system is expected to further reduce humidity and bring stronger winds as well. Brush fire warnings have been raised across the country as a result.

AND

Two Children Hurt by Falling Palm Tree in Sharon Region

notice the bldg in background, seems tilted?

Two young girls, ages 8 and 9, were injured Monday morning while waiting for a school bus north of Tel Aviv, when a palm tree collapsed on top of them, knocked over by extremely windy conditions.

One of the girls, age 8, suffering injuries throughout her body and was seriously injured. She was taken to nearby Laniado Medical Center in Netanya, where she’s listed in serious condition. The second girl, age 9, was injured in the arms and her leg. She was taken to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba and is listed in good condition.

The incident occurred in Kibbutz Bahan, located near the coastal city of Netanya north of Tel Aviv, while the children were lining up for the bus at a stop. Windy conditions have prevailed on the coastal plains for the last several days. Temperatures dropped over the weekend and on Monday were expected to drop further, with winds picking up further as winter begins to take its grip on the region.

The Deep State vs. Trump

(for those who don’t believe or didn’t understand)

The Deep State vs. Trump

Author Lee Smith on the bureaucrats plotting to thwart (read ‘eliminate’) the President of the United States. 
Mishpacha Magazine: The Current

Lee Smith has written an astonishing new book in which he claims that the Obama administration, in concert with the Clinton campaign, used fake intelligence in an attempt to take down a newly elected president.

The coup was launched in early 2016, when the Clinton campaign began to leak parts of the “Steele Dossier,” a now-discredited document that claimed Donald Trump was in the snares of the Russian government. A sympathetic FBI and Department of Justice then used that information to spy on Trump campaign operatives — US citizens — with the ultimate goal of defeating Trump on election day. That information was spread by a willing press corps. When that failed, the investigators changed tactics. Spurred on by an outgoing Obama White House, FBI director James Comey and others set in motion what would become the Mueller Report, which created the interminable cloud hanging over the White House.

What once sounded like a conspiracy theory was detailed in a report compiled by Congressman Devin Nunes in February 2018. Titled “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the memo detailed how federal investigators used false information to obtain FISA warrants to spy on US citizens. Smith writes that their ultimate goal was a coup, an attempt by the bureaucracy to accomplish what the election could not.

Raised in New York, Lee Smith has worked as a journalist for 30 years. He is a former reporter at the Village Voice, Talk magazine, and the Weekly Standard, and he is currently a columnist for the online magazine Tablet, where he writes about the Middle East. A former resident of Egypt and Lebanon, Smith is the author of three books, among them The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations.

His new book, The Plot Against the President: The True Story of How Congressman Devin Nunes Uncovered the Biggest Political Scandal in U.S. History is currently number one on the Amazon Charts. I reached him in Washington.

Why did you decide to write this book?
I thought it was important to tell the story of the people who stood up and did the right thing, like Congressman Nunes and his staff. We have a pretty good idea now about what the bad guys did, what Obama intelligence officials and Clinton operatives did. But we didn’t have a good idea of what good people had done to stand up.

You make a convincing case, yet there aren’t hundreds of books on the subject. Why?
As I explain in the book, the press is part of what’s happening here. They are very well not going to report on the role they played in this operation. This is not about a press that is liberal. We would expect them to be more critical of Trump than Obama, and of Reagan than they were of Clinton. The issue here is not about partisanship. One of the indices is the number of people who identify as Republicans who have been part of this. Up until a few months ago it was conspiratorial and nutty to talk about a Deep State. Now, New York Times columnist James Stewart says there is a Deep State and it’s a good thing. Former deputy director of the CIA John McLaughlin told a panel in Washington two weeks ago, “Thank G-d for the Deep State.” I don’t know if McLaughlin identifies as a Republican or Democrat, but there is a network of interests that transcends party lines.

What role did the Obama administration play in this? Did the president know what was happening?
The president knew what was happening. The evidence is provided by his national security advisor, Susan Rice, and her [outgoing] January 2017 memo. Once you strip away the language, basically what [Obama’s] saying is “collect information on the Trump team related to the Russian investigation underway.” That’s what he’s saying. Right now, that’s about as far as we can go.

Politicians collect information on their rivals all the time. What makes [Rice’s memo] astonishing is that Obama is taking about collecting intelligence related to the FBI’s counter-intelligence investigation that is open on the Trump team. That’s a different sort of thing.

Should people go to jail over their actions? If so, who?
That’s why United States Attorney John Durham is doing [a criminal investigation into the Justice Department handling of the investigation]. If he believes there are serious criminal charges to be made, I assume there will made charges made. Congressman Nunes made eight criminal referrals. He believes crimes were committed. He and his staff see evidence that crimes were committed. He didn’t tell me who the people were.

In the book, you describe something called an “obstruction of justice” trap. Can you describe how the intelligence agencies used that to ensnare Trump and others?
At a certain point, James Comey and the top officials of the FBI and DOJ who were involved in the operation against Trump realized they had nothing on collusion. Nonetheless they were keen to remove Trump from office. The way they thought they could do that was by bringing obstruction of justice charges against the president. If they couldn’t remove the president, they could hand it off to a Democratic Congress, and that would be the basis for impeachment charges.

One fascinating aspect of the book is the enmity you describe people feeling for Trump. With most politicians, there are positives and negatives. What motivated these people to go to such lengths to destroy him?

I think it’s a breakdown of a number of different institutions. This is not personal enmity for Trump. I think it has structurally to do with a number of institutions like the press, the FBI under James Comey, and the power that Trump rightly described as “the swamp.” The power of unelected bureaucrats to make policy, that’s what the Beltway is. This has always been a problem for new administrations, especially for Republicans. There has always been pushback from the permanent bureaucracy — the State Department, the Pentagon, including officers. They believe they are governing the country, and they are really the ones who are entitled to determine the policy of the US — and not the president and the political appointees he brings in.

[Former Trump national security advisor] Michael Flynn said, “This is not how we’re going to run things: The people in the swamp need to be held accountable for the money they are spending.” Flynn is a very important part of the story because Flynn threatened their budgets.

You are seeing how they are pushing back now, even from places like the National Security Council. That’s where the whistle blower [in the Ukraine case], Alexander Vindman, comes from. That’s where Fiona Hill [who testified in the impeachment inquiry against Trump] comes from.

These are people from the bureaucracy who are actually in the White House. It’s not like they are across town. They are actually in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building that adjoins the White House. These are people who work for Trump, he’s their boss, yet this is where the impeachment is coming out of. That just shows you the power of the bureaucracy. And that’s what the fight is about.

The press has other currents and other interests. The press has turned into a gathering of political operatives. The press is financially bankrupt, so it has collapsed ethically and professionally as well. We don’t have a press like we did 20 years ago. There is a place called the New York Times and there is a place called the Washington Post, but these are not the institutions we had 20 years ago.

Since you mentioned Ukraine… You don’t deal with that subject in your book, but what is your assessment of what happened on the phone call [between Trump and Ukrainian president Zelensky] and the attempt to impeach the president?
The president makes foreign policy. It’s that simple, and [now] there’s a bureaucratic insurgency. It’s preposterous. The president makes policy. Who is Alexander Vindman? He is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army. I’m sure we are all obliged to him for serving in uniform, but it’s the president who makes foreign policy.

So it’s not your judgment that he was misusing his office to serve his political goals?
Joe Biden’s son Hunter had been hired by a foreign company in Ukraine, a country with a notoriously corrupt political system. That company was under investigation by a foreign country, Ukraine, where their prosecutors also have different issues. Without going into unnecessary detail, we’re not talking here about Switzerland. We’re talking about a sandbox for oligarchs. It’s a very corrupt system.

Anyway, the son of the vice president of the United States of America was working at a foreign company under investigation by a foreign government. This in itself is a scenario for at least a dozen imaginable ways in which the national security of the United States might have been compromised. You can imagine what [the phone calls might sound like]: “We can make things awfully hard on your son, Mr. Vice President.” “We can make things awfully hard on you and the president you serve.” It is Trump’s duty as commander in chief to get to the bottom of what Hunter Biden was doing.

What we’ve seen is, this has been going on for four years now; thanks to the press, they have managed to turn things upside down. Joe Biden, in public, describes a quid pro quo [with the Ukrainian government], which was: Fire that prosecutor or you don’t get a billion dollars. But now the impeachment inquiry is based on the possibility that Trump might have demanded a quid pro quo? I mean, it’s absurd. But that’s why I say the press is not a free press. This is very obvious. I’m not a genius or a lawyer. We’re just going on what is in public here.

That statement is scary: The press is not a free press. That’s terrifying.
It’s really terrifying. And what makes it worse is once you compound the nature of the communications wing with intelligence officials, it’s really dangerous. All that had to happen for this thing to break open is for people to ask basic questions. But instead the press built up an enormous echo chamber to reinforce what political operatives were saying.

Let me put it another way. What happened was before the election in 2016, Clinton operatives started leaking a smear campaign against Trump, and his alleged ties to Russian figures. After the election, that turned into the basis of an operation against Trump, that he was somehow a Russian spy and it was Vladimir Putin who elected him. That’s a conspiracy theory. Once you have inserted a conspiracy theory into the public sphere, it’s over, there’s no going back.

Because they have to keep defending it?
It’s not just that. It’s actual real political power. Once you can get people to believe a political conspiracy, once it becomes part of the way people understand the world… This is how Americans tragically understand the governance of our country, that it’s at the behest of Putin or that Trump is a Russian spy. There are millions of Americans who now believe this. That is real power. Once you can make people believe a lie this large, you can make them believe anything. So there’s no way they’re going to abandon this conspiracy theory, because it’s just too much power.

How does this end? Let’s say for the sake of argument that Trump wins the next election. Is this just four more years of the same thing? And if he doesn’t win?
If he doesn’t win, they will try to put him and every member of his family in jail. If he wins, I don’t know. There has to be accountability for people who break the law. That will change some things. Will people continue to believe that Trump is a Russian spy? That will continue until those people die. There will be tens of millions of Americans who will believe that Trump is a spy. We can’t do anything about that.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 785)


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BTW While we Jews believe “everything” is  הכל משמעיים, with respect to those who might think "The "coup" taking place in America ... is the work of HKB”H;” chv”s, we have been told that “pure evil” does not come from the source of “all Good”. In fact, the “coup” is “pure evil” and Trump was put into office to eradicate the scourge that has been warring in all countries all over the world to increase their financials and gain control over all life on this planet. At the same time Trump is fighting “evil” he is building up Israel = “the good” (the apple of Hashem’s Eye so to speak). It couldn’t be more obvious, unless one is only “near” sighted.

Thank You Secretary of State Mike Pompeo . . .

. . . And President *Donald J Trump

Pompeo (for the State Dept. and Pres. Reagan) Declares West Bank (Yehuda and Shomron) Settlements are 

NOT ILLEGAL

History is being made

The Heartland of biblical EretzYisrael is now going to bloom in abundance, of beautiful veggies and luscious juicy fruits from the blessing of mayim from Shamayim  b’Simcha.

Trump defies the world again

(and the EU)

The Trump administration’s declaration Monday that Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria does not violate international law marks a “revolutionary” change in the American position on the issue, and constitutes “an extraordinary gesture of support for Israel”, journalist and veteran publisher Caroline Glick argued in a piece published by Israel Hayom Monday night.

“Mike Pompeo’s statement Monday that Israeli settlements are not illegal per se is the most significant shift in U.S. Middle East policy in the past generation,” wrote Glick. arutzsheva.

* who ‘promised’ to undue all of “O’s” nastiness as president

The 13th Amendment of the United States (& breaking news below)

“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

~ ~ ~

On December 9th, 1812, (some say March 12, 1819) The E~Clause was given TEETH
when it was ratified and became:

the 13th Amendment

“If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain, any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.”

This 13th Article of Amendment was printed in both the 1815 Statutes at Large and the 1825 – Military Laws of the United States . . . and was published as a lawfully ratified Article for over 65 years, in over 50+ State Statute books that can still be found on Google Books.


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What for? Well, this pertains prominently in the war being fought in the US of A

BreakingNews 

There was an attempted assassination of President Trump over the weekend, as he was shuttled to a military hospital for urgent medical tests after his food tester was reportedly stricken with extreme symptoms. Medical tests could not identify the chemical that was used. Trump is reportedly in good health, but the deep state traitors are ramping up their efforts to try to eliminate the President, since their impeachment coup is rapidly collapsing.

Bennet (the Min. of Ed.) Lectures the Military Leftist Hardliners

After reading this, all I can say is “nice try Bennet” but you’re speaking to the wrong guys! These career officers are coming from the “שמאלה” Please read this.

DM Bennett: We will not get a fourth chance at Jewish sovereignty

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett met on Monday with members of the General Staff Forum, headed by IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi.

Minister Bennett decided last week to go directly into office, without ceremony and without the guard of honor, to immediately approach the significant challenges that lie ahead for the State of Israel.

At the opening of his speech, the Minister thanked the IDF commanders and said "Thank you for so many years, in which everyone who sits here contributes to the most important thing: the existence of the Jewish state and the Jewish people in Israel. I come here in awe, there's a lot to learn."

"The core of the Jewish people's existence is the unity and soul of Israel is the debate, we are a good people and so it is good. In my opinion, it is good to hear second opinions. I am glad that there are haredi, religious, secular, right and left here, I wouldn't want it any other way. The debate is what's good for Israel.

"We will not get a fourth chance. We had a Jewish state in this country that survived as a sovereign and unified state 80 years in its firsts year and in the 81st year of that state, because of ego, sector and tribalism, we split. We had a second chance the Second Temple period. For 73 years we acted as a sovereign and united state, and again, myopia, tribalism and sectors brought about the loss of sovereignty first and later the destruction. We are now in the eighth decade of the third opportunity.

The common denominator for everyone who sits here is that we intend to get through this decade, and the hundreds and thousands, and live here with the eternity of Israel.

"I trust you, the Chief of Staff, and you, the members of the General Staff, and the IDF Commanders absolutely. I think the competence level of the IDF and the General Staff is very high. My impression is that you are attentive, I have not seen anyone who just comes with complaints

"The situation in all sectors is very complex and full of threats, but also full of tremendous opportunities.

"The only way our enemies can overcome us is to give us a sense that we do not deserve to live in this country, to lose the power of faith in the justice of our path. Chief of Staff, I know that it is very deep in what you are striving for.

"The IDF's mission is to uphold the Jewish State's eternal presence in the Land of Israel, along with our values ​​and heritage."

Meir Ettinger 11/18/19 – A War for Peace

A War for Peace by Meir Ettinger
We are happy to hear about a number of dead terrorists, but we need to deepen our understanding of the strategic and broad trends that the IDF leadership has been following in recent years.

We are already behind another round of fighting last week in the Gaza Strip, in which hundreds of rockets were fired at the State of Israel, half of the country was disabled, and twenty-five terrorists mainly from Islamic Jihad were killed by IDF fire.

The last round opens with the assassination of the terrorist Baha Abu al-Ata - an area commander of the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip who, according to the IDF, was responsible for several missile launches toward Israel in the past year and ended with a ceasefire followed by the rocket barrage this time by the Resistance Committees. "And another rocket fire on Saturday night, so to speak, of Hamas "rogue “.

Alongside the criticism of the deterrence that led to the assassination of a third-degree officer in a small, semi-state-backed terrorist organization, right-wing cheers were heard on the 'victorious blow' to the Islamic Jihad, the elimination of the rocket launchers finished without Hamas joining the campaign. It is not always pleasant to be in the role of captivating the joys, but it turns out that these joys are due to a lack of understanding of the purpose of the operation in the strategic perspective of its initiators.

We are pleased, and rightly so, to hear of a number of dead terrorists, as if it is restoring the trampled respect of the people of Israel that this government has humiliated. But those who want to be an alternative to the existing establishment need to deepen their understanding of the strategic and broad trends of the IDF leadership in recent years. Examining the ideas published by senior IDF officials and the security policy makes it clear that the research institutes and the think tanks in the IDF, the loss of deterrence and the humiliation of national dignity (which is the glory of God) will not easily change with the identity of one minister of defense or another but require a deeper scrutiny.

In recent years, we have already become accustomed to the permanent response to any rocket or rocket fire attempts in the Gaza Strip "We see Hamas responsible for everything that is done in the Gaza Strip", the same wording accompanied the policy (in speech, certainly not in acts) in every Gaza fighting round in the last decade, this wording has disappeared The latter, on the contrary, one of the cabinet members stated that one of the objectives of the operation was to keep Hamas out of the round.

The answer is simple: In the security system, the decision was made to come to terms with the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, and to replace the decision in the regulation. And when they do not intend and do not want to overpower the killers, it makes no sense to threaten them with the responsibility, when there are no bullets in the gun.

About two months ago, all media sites featured articles depicting Baha Abu al-Ata as a rogue commander interrupting the Hamas deal. And those who know a little about how the media works, immediately noticed that these were IDF spokesperson briefs that marked the mastermind's "problematic cause." The purpose of the last operation was not the decision of the Hamas terrorist organization, but the exact opposite - the removal of the interfering factors with the Hamas series.

From the first moment after the killing of Abu al-Ata, the IDF spokesman announced that it was not a return to the policy of counterterrorism [i think the word here should be ’targeted assassinations, as I heard them say so] and for long hours the rocket fire from Gaza that disrupted life not only in the Gaza envelope accustomed to life under fire but also in Gush Dan, was answered quietly by Israel. The rocket fire and the IDF continued to attack | (Indeed, relatively in the attempt to strike and eliminate more jihad terrorists than we have become used to in recent years), every effort has been made to keep Hamas out of the picture.

The reason for this is clear, but not enough known or at least insufficiently structured for the public - the strategic plan of the IDF leadership and Netanyahu and its environment is the existence of the series against Hamas, the series that means achieving long-term ceasefire agreements in exchange for easing the Gaza blockade in stages. Maritime port and opening of crossings, all this when Hamas does not give up its desire to destroy the Jews of Israel, but only rejects it later. If not many years ago, Hamas' status was similar to that of Islamic Jihad today, then five years ago. Not dreaming to talk to Hamas, Netanyahu stated the need to overthrow Hamas rule, now the Hamas terror organization, which continues to try and to carry out murderous attacks in Judea and Samaria has become a legitimate cause, with the whole purpose of the operation being to enable the arrangement to exist.

Half an anniversary ago, the Oslo agreement was signed, the IDF withdrew from the cities of Judea and Samaria, under illusions that the Palestinians had changed, and ahead of the era of peace, the then Palestinian policemen held light weapons, but the price of blood was expensive - over a thousand deaths we paid for the illusion Oslo, when the buses stopped exploding only after the IDF reoccupied the city centers. The concept of the deal with Hamas may cost much more, the months or years that the regulation will hold will serve to improve the capabilities of terrorist organizations but will never change their desire to destroy Israel, The problem this time is not about firearms, but missiles, skimmers and more, a port Days [?] are planned and the Lord will keep in.[?]  If the arrangement is not implemented, it will turn out that the right-wing government's illusion can rise even more heavily than the Rabin government's Oslo illusion.

Even in the days of Oslo, the illusion did not immediately burst, at least two years passed until the truth began to emerge, but when the Oslo war broke out - the price was expensive. It is important to remember, because here too, the "series" may cause a short-term calm, according to the terrorists' schedule, but when the "series" breaks out we will need a lot of prayers.

The buds of surrender to Hamas began in an article written by Maj. Gen. Sami Turgman (Southern Command general in Operation Protective Edge) in which he argued that in the near future Israel would have to come to terms with the reality that Hamas rules Gaza, and therefore the Gaza Strip must be invested[?]  through an international mechanism, even if it strengthens Hamas. In another article published several months ago in the issue of Between the Poles (in the Dedu Center for Interdisciplinary Military Thinking of the General Staff), the authors called for the Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip to be temporarily silent and an effort to thwart Hamas's attempts to export terror to Judea and Samaria.

In the "outline for a solution" presented by the Mecho
This concept also comes from outside. Tel Aviv University's National Security Studies has drawn up an outline that formed its former chief[s] of staff - Gantz, Ashkenazi and Ya'alon. Factors also identified by Netanyahu's policy, such as the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, or former Chief of Staff Yaakov Amidror, have in recent years published articles against the Hamas rule collapse and for the series[?] without prior decision.

Anyone who is confused or admired by the current or retired generals 'position can return to the generals' opinion before the Oslo Accords, or pre-deportation of Gush Katif Jews and withdrawal from the Gaza Area. But believers in G–d and his teachings are familiar with the Torah written: that any renunciation of part of the land of Israel will cost us a bloody price. It is precisely these days that things can be seen with tangible eyes, how anyone who does not want to conquer Gaza is mistaken for the imagination and illusions of the series in the face of Hamas terrorists, a growing terrorist organization that does not for a moment give up its desire to destroy us.

Understanding things is important, but its purpose is not only to expose the problems and highlight the bad, but to help understand what is the way of repair. It turns out that this issue is truly 'no right and no left' - not believing in it 'does not have the ability to act with active confidence against the narrow us, right and left trying to push the end when everyone knows what the price will be at the end.

A real security change, facing our enemies in general, and Gaza in particular, depends not only on the firepower and some dead terrorists (not that it matters), and also does not depend on the identity of one or another defense minister, wearing a skullcap or an outsider. A change in policy vis-à-vis Gaza requires strategic change, and a willingness to overwhelm Gaza to the end.