11.11.2011

Just speculating:

Katia is the storm 11 of the season

11 days from now is 9/11

Brazen Theft

“We came here to see, under the guidance of Aryeh King, the reality here,” said MK Uri Ariel.

“. . .We speak of a united Jerusalem, the Prime Minister is giving speeches, and at the same time we’re standing here and it’s happening right before our eyes. It’s the middle of the day, and we’re standing underneath a Palestinian Authority sign [and harrassment] inside Jerusalem. It's simply an outrage."

Ariel promised that his party will take action over the issue

UPDATE: Don't believe it, cannot find the video at INN or YouTube



Change ... In the Knesset?

Why not buldoze over the roads they paved?
Why not start building much needed homes for Israeli citizens (or are they closet lefties)?

Where are the Tent Protestors?

Why aren't they protesting over unused land for housing?

We have to "take the gloves off," as the phrase goes, and begin protecting our Land seriously!

Right Meets Left

I just read something fascinating on the Muqata:

"Neturay Karta, Anti-Zionist Wedding Invitation for the grandson of Moshe Hirsch (founder of Neturay Karta, and member of Arafat's Palestinian Authority)...invites you to a wedding to take place in "Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), Palestine" "

Naturei Karta = Extreme Right 180*
Larry Derfner = Extreme Left 180*

When the Right goes too far, it meets the Left.

Afterthoughts About Aftershocks

After the 5.8 Earthquake Hurricane Irene plundered her way up the East Coast, first landing in North Carolina, Irene arrived within the same week. A report about the Earthquake indicated that there would be several aftershocks.

"Aftershocks of magnitude 2.8 and 2.2 were recorded later in the afternoon, followed by one of 4.2 just after 8 p.m. ET, officials said. More aftershocks are possible in the coming weeks." "...sent tremors along the East Coast, which prompted office buildings from Washington D.C. to New York to be evacuated."

This could be what partially created the travel path for Irene. Potential Connection Between Earthquakes and Salt Water: Geology. I don't know if the hurricane precedes a quake or vice versa, but the occurrence of both so close in space and time could mean something.

And this is for those who accuse the Mayor of NYC of over-reacting. Maybe the Governor should have been more concerned about Upstate NY. Ever see a floating Motel? Examine the above photo carefully.

Well, on Shabbat just before Irene arrived in the New York area, there was another Quake near Albany NY, the seat of Governor Andrew Cuomo. "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered the inspection of a hydro-power dam west of Albany after a mild earthquake. Cuomo said that while the 2.9 magnitude earthquake Saturday was small, he ordered an immediate inspection of nearby infrastructure as a precaution.

The WhiteHouse Brotherhood

Infiltration of the federal government by members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood is worse than some have warned recently, says a former FBI special agent in Washington. Special Report

"... confirmed that at least three operatives of the Egypt-based Brotherhood – whose credo is "Jihad is our way and death in the cause of Allah is our dream" – have penetrated the Obama administration.

"The shocking charge was first leveled by Muslim reformer Tarek Fatah during a recent speech in Toronto. When someone says that there is penetration of jihadi Islamists within society, do not dismiss it as some right-wing, xenophobic, racist rant," warned Fatah, a Canadian journalist.

"Today in the White House, there are three members of the Muslim Brotherhood that influence Obama's policy," he told the audience gathered for an IdeaCity conference. "One is Rashad Hassan, who is the American ambassador to the 52-nation Organization of Islamic (Conference)."

"... also ... "Dalia Mogahed, who writes (Obama's) speeches, who comes from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt; and another woman, an academic, (who) was appointed in that circle."

" ... several other Brotherhood-connected agents of influence – all of whom are just as politically savvy and moderate sounding – who have worked their way into government positions, including:

• Arif Alikhan, who was assistant Homeland Security secretary for policy development and is now a distinguished visiting professor of homeland security and counterterrorism at the National Defense University.
• Syrian-born Kareem Shora, who is Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's senior policy adviser.
• Navy Cmdr. Youssef Aboul-Enein and Jocelyne Cesari, a Muslim convert who previously worked with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, both of whom teach at colleges within the National Defense University.

and there's more, at the link above

Hurricane Irene

So Long Irene,

UPDATED: CNN is reporting that the East and Hudson rivers have begun to overflow in parts of Lower Manhattan. Dramatic pictures show reporters ankle-deep in river water as they stand on the pavement beside the rivers and water sliding over the embankment near the South Street Seaport. Battery Park has reported a total water level near 8.6 feet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.


Five Mile Wide Hurricane Irene made landfall in New Jersey at about 5:35 a.m. Sunday in Little Egg Harbor near Atlantic City. But long before dawn, the state faced a rain-soaked night that at daylight revealed wide swaths of destruction; a host of fallen trees, river and flash flooding and several hundred thousand people without power. The Lede.

8:45 AM Brooklyn:

3 Million NYC area without power. But after all this, the damage so far was not as bad as they expected. Thank the A-mighty. Some streets at New York City’s edges are flooding as Hurricane Irene barrels toward the area. City officials say rainfall overnight overwhelmed sewers and sent water streaming into some streets. Seawater from New York Harbor lapped at the edge the sidewalk at Battery Park along the tip of lower Manhattan. Along the coast in the outer boroughs, flooding is worse. Ocean water was streaming into main streets of the Rockaways. VosIzNeias


Philadelphia

The Schuylkill River and the Delaware River are flooding inland. Penn's Landing also flooded.Darby Creek Flooding. Here is alot of flooding. My mother a"h grew up around here, and would pick fresh fruit and berries from the trees. Of all the pictures I found for Philly it would be this.

Also the Passaic River in New Jersey and the Winooski River in New England are expected to experience major flooding. The Northeast is filled with little creeks and tiny rivers that will cause homes in their area to see flooding.


Maryland
The birdies have replaced cars in this parking lot being flooded






Hello Jose ... Katia:

Atlantic - Caribbean Sea - Gulf of Mexico: "Tropical Storm Jose nears Bermuda ... Tropical Storm Warning Issued

That's about the size of Irene right now, after crashing into North Carolina and crawling up the coast - downing trees, flooding entire area, creating power outages, she became a Tropical Storm on her way to New England. Let's hope 'Jose' loses incentive.

IRENE Battling Up The NE Coast

Threat of “Irene” and The Threat of “Iran” The Geula is coming closer.



HURRICANE IRENE 2011

NYC Mayor Bloomberg: We might have to EVACUATE!

““For the general public, it’s a good idea to move Friday,” Bloomberg said. “Keep in mind, it is possible — I don’t know that I want to say likely — but it is very conceivable ... that Saturday morning at 8 o’clock, we’re going to say, ‘Look, the forecast has not changed. The storm is still barreling down on us. It’s still very dangerous. You must get out of these areas.’” NY area MTA to close down. Long Power Outages expected.

NYC in Direct Path of Storm EYE: “Scientists predict Irene will then chug up the coast. Some forecasts showed it taking dead aim at New York City, with its eye passing over Brooklyn and Manhattan before weakening and trudging through New England.”



Nation's Top Expert: Hurricane Irene Aim On East Coast Will Be A Nightmare


September 1821: A hurricane raised tides by 13 feet in an hour and flooded all of Manhattan south of Canal Street — an area that now includes the nation’s financial capital. An infamous 1938 storm dubbed the Long Island Express came ashore about 75 miles east of the city and then hit New England, killing 700 people and leaving 63,000 homeless.

Buxton, NC: A monstrous Hurricane Irene tightened its aim on the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday, threatening 65 million people along a shore-hugging path from North Carolina to New England. One of the nation’s top experts called it his “nightmare” scenario.

“One of my greatest nightmares was having a major hurricane go up the whole Northeast Coast,” Max Mayfield, the center’s retired director, told The Associated Press. He said the damage will probably climb into billions of dollars: “This is going to have an impact on the United States economy.”

Philadelphia: The Philadelphia area could get more than a half-foot of rain, accompanied by sustained winds up to 50 mph. Mayor Michael Nutter said it could be the worst storm in at least 50 years. August has already been one of the rainiest months in city history.

New Jersey: Gov. Chris Christie asked all visitors to the shore to get out by midday Friday. He said Irene was poised to be a “serious, significant event,” with flooding a threat across the entire state. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for Cape May County.

New York: “In many ways, a Category 2 or stronger storm hitting New York is a lot of people’s nightmare,” said Susan Cutter, director of the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina. High water in the harbor and rivers, along with a high tide at the end of the month because of the new moon, could cause serious flooding. New York’s three airports are close to the water, putting them at risk, too, Cutter said.

And if the storm shifts further to the west, placing New York City on the stronger right-hand quadrant of the storm, “that is what’s going to push this wall of water into the bays and the Hudson River.”


May the A-mighty have Rachmonus on the people of the Eastern Seaboard and may the damage ONLY be in property.

The Kola Peninsula

Has anyone ever heard of the Kola Peninsula?:

Today the Kola Peninsula is the most industrially developed and urbanized region in northern Russia. The major port of the peninsula is Murmansk, which serves as the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast and does not freeze in winter. During the Soviet period, Murmansk was a significant submarine production center, and remains home to the Russian Northern Fleet.

The peninsula has the highest concentration of nuclear weapons, reactors, and facilities in Russia, with the number of nuclear reactors alone exceeding any other region of the world.

[ed. This would also be a very strategic base from which a northern attack on America could be attempted]


Ever heard of MoHo? The Superdeep Borehole:

Over forty years ago, researchers in the Soviet Union began an ambitious drilling project whose goal was to penetrate the Earth’s upper crust and sample the warm, mysterious area where the crust and mantle intermingle– the Mohorovičić discontinuity, or “Moho.” So deep is this area that the Russian scientists had to invent new ways of drilling, and some of their new methods proved quite inventive.

Sometimes All It Takes Is One Man ...

Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities

During Glenn Beck's speech he presented a brand new Declaration, one inspired by the Declaration of Independence and takes it to another level. The "Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities" is a declaration that applies to every human being on the planet. It's a declaration and a challenge for all people to live with honor, courage and vigilance.

During Glenn's speech he encouraged people to read the Declaration: “In the coming days, I want each of you to print them, read them, carry them, and make them a part of your lives. Share them with your family and friends. Remember all that God has done for you, teach these lessons to your children, and obey God’s word. And join me on a historic march towards human responsibility.”

As the American Declaration of Independence clearly states, when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for people to band together and collectively declare their rights and responsibilities to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle and bind them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should disclose the causes which impel them to such.

Therefore let us declare that we still hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But with those rights come responsibilities. In order to continually experience life, liberty and happiness as promised, nature’s God demands obedience to His law to protect those rights. This is where we have fallen short and therefore, in order not to lose the blessings of freedom, the people of the world must turn from the sole focus on rights, and recognize the inherent and required responsibilities that we have.

Among the responsibilities to which we must adhere to maintain our God given rights are honor, courage and vigilance.
Over time, we believe that these basic human responsibilities have been trampled, and replaced with degradation, fear and apathy.

But when a long train of abuses of the people and conscience by the media and by other segments of society, pursuing the same path of reducing them to ridicule, scorn and even sub-human status, it is their right, it is their DUTY, to peacefully, but vehemently take a stand.

Men want to be king, and the more we concentrate on our rights and the more we are told not to worry about our responsibilities, the more we lose our rights.

Just as physics show, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. The time has come to declare that at least for the western world human rights are generally accepted and moving in the right direction however a new movement is required a movement of human responsibility.

The media, politicians and large institutions both academic and political have been lying to us, and we must demand the truth be told.

With that demand, comes the responsibility that we tell the truth first, in ourselves. Too many of us delegate our responsibility to the media…and too many believe there is no personal responsibility at all.

Political correctness has polluted our language and clouds our every discussion.

What was once accepted as good and right, is now considered bad and evil, and that which was bad and evil is now presented to the world as good and decent.

Opposing thoughts or opinions are referred to as crazy, insane, non-factual and utterly without merit. Furthermore, we are told, they should not even be heard.

Now, the time has come to take a stand by exhibiting the traits – honor, courage and vigilance.

What is honor? It is being honest in all of our dealings. It is showing loyalty and fairness, and being a beacon of integrity in all our beliefs and actions. It is showing respect for others.

Ruth honored Naomi when she told her that she would not leave her. That she would go wherever Naomi went, that she would live where Naomi lived and die where Naomi died. Her God would be Naomi’s God.

Courage is the ability to face danger, criticism or scorn – not without fear, but while overcoming fear to deal with that which comes our way.

When no one else in the Kingdom wanted to face the mighty giant, Goliath, young David was willing. David must have felt fear at the sight of his foe, but overcame it, and courageously vanquished his enemy.

Vigilance is being watchful for all forms of treachery and tyranny, lies and deceit. The person in the watchtower, waiting all night, suddenly sounding the alarm that the enemy is coming. The careful observer of the markets and economies who proclaims to the world, all is not well, there is trouble ahead and the outspoken critic of the powerful, going against societies’ grain, warning that all is not as we’re being told. These are the vigilant.

We implore all people to stand with these characteristics – honor, courage and vigilance.

To that end, we must restore honor in our own lives. Seek after the truth. Declare right now, that no longer will we simply accept what is told us by the media or anyone else.

The media has the responsibility to tell the truth, we have the responsibility to learn it.

Stand with courage, even if it means the end of our jobs, the end of our positions in life…or even the end of our very lives.
We must have the courage to be peaceful, while recognizing the courage to defend and respond to threats and/or attacks when necessary.

Turn the other cheek when possible.

We must be vigilant. We must think the unthinkable. The holocaust occurred because no one could imagine it, but evil never sleeps, and neither must we.

As Edmund Burke said, “all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” We must DO something. Stand watch. Speak up. Become involved.

Thus, we the people do hereby declare not only our rights, but do now establish this bill of responsibilities.

1. Because I have the right to choose, I recognize that I am accountable to God and have the responsibility to keep the 10 commandments in my own life.

2. Because I have the right to worship as I choose, I have the responsibility to honor the right of others to worship as they see fit.

3. Because I have freedom of speech, I have the responsibility to defend the speech of others, even if I strongly disagree with what they’re saying.

4. Because I have the right to pursue happiness, I have the responsibility to show humility and express gratitude for all the blessings I enjoy and the rights I’ve been given.

5. Because I have the right to honest and good government I will seek out honest and just representatives when possible. If I cannot find one then I accept the responsibility to take that place.

6. Because I have the God given right to liberty, I have the personal responsibility to have the courage to defend others to be secure in their persons, lives and property.

7. Because I have the right to equal justice, I will stand for those who are wrongly accused or unjustly blamed.

8. Because I have the right to knowledge, I will be accountable for myself and my children’s education…to live our lives in such a way that insures the continuation of truth.

9. Because I have the right to pursue my dreams and keep the fruits of my labor, I have the responsibility to feed, protect and shelter my family, the less fortunate, the fatherless, the old and infirm.

10. Because I have a right to the truth, I will not bear false witness nor will not stand idly by as others do.

Unconditionally, while maintaining my responsibility to compassionately yet fiercely stand against those things that decay the natural rights of all men. And for the support of this declaration, and with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, fortunes and sacred honor.

Possible September Attack on Israeli Internet/Email

I found the following discussion on an email list. Because of the nature of the info, I am posting it here, without names. Maybe Muqata or Mystical or anyone else that might have connections could verify or add to this possible internet nightmare:

"I sent email to ... yahoo group list with copy of warning message from my Internet provider, Triple C, which was about one week ago, telling me that Gaza hackers plan to go after all Israel web sites in September. They did not publish this message. Also in their message, Triple C offered free protection from hackers for September. Maybe ... moderator decided that it is for sale purpose. I don't know. How to protect your computer? Use only HTTPS protocol. If web site displays HTTP (on the top of a browser) use it only for display information, not for any transactions, or with your personal data. You can add "S" to move to HTTPS. Yahoo email, which we use here, uses HTTP. And I tried to change to HTTPS without success. All our info we type here can be visible to anyone, including hackers. Also if you don't have Internet protective software it is time to get it. Scan your computer against viruses using ... software every day"

"When I tried to watch the Jerusalem Online News it turned up saying Hema Virus - Egyptian Hackers will be going into all Israeli internet news, military , banking and other websites. And quite a few other choice comments about Israel.  This is quite scary. Does anyone know how this will affect my computer. I am worried about checking my bank account online now also. Anyone else see this?"

If This Is True ...

It May Foretell Some Middle East Fireworks

Debka: "Hamas' first commando unit set up by Iran"

A team of Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) officers has just finished setting up Hamas' first commando unit especially trained to combat any Israel military force entering the Gaza Strip, DEBKAfile's military sources report. The new "Al Qods Brigades" unit of 400 men is to be the first of three. The urban guerrilla tactics imparted to Hamas drew heavily on the experience Al Qods is gaining in Syria, where its experts help President Bashar Assad crack down on protest.

Debka: " NATO close to military steps in Syria for beachhead to attack Iran"

Twelve hours after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Assad he faced a "sad fate" if he failed to introduce reforms, Moscow's envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin accused the Western alliance of planning a military campaign against Syria to help overthrow the Assad regime "with the long-reaching goal of preparing a beachhead for an attack on Iran."

"In an Izvestia interview Friday, Aug. 5, Rogozin added: "This statement means that the planning [of the military campaign] is well underway."

Minute by Minute Report

Not the Rockets in the South

A Warning Quake 5.9 Hit the DC Area, felt up the coast to Manhattan and Brooklyn

And on Martha's Vineyard as Obama was Golfing

Centered in Virginia

I Hope He Got The Message

The following coverage is from Yeshiva World News:

3:59PM EST: The United States Geological Survey reported THAT a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Virginia at 1:51 p.m.

Laguardia and JFK airports, which were shut down after the quake, have resumed service, MSNBC reports. The passenger rail service AMTRAK reports that it is reducing the speed of trains between Baltimore and Washington following the quake.

UPDATE 3:40PM EST: The U.S. Capitol Police reports that the Washington Monument has been damaged after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck near the nation’s capital.

There are also reports that the Washington Monument is “tilting” from ABC News affiliate WABC.

UPDATE 3:11PM EST: Most of downtown D.C. has since been evacuated, including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and other buildings. Pictures in the Capitol building reportedly fell from the wall and workers panicked and ran to the exits, apparently fearing a 9/11-style attack. Workers were told not to re-enter the buildings.

Marine helicopters were seen hovering above the D.C, and there were reports that the Washington Monument may be tilting.

Buildings in New York City shook briefly and the FBI building was evacuated. Control towers at John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Airport were also evacuated. Evacuations were felt as north as Canada.

UPDATE 2:59PM EST: MSNBC reports that the quake has caused flighs delays at a number of airports, including JFK; Newark, Washington National; Washington Dulles, and Philadelphia.

UPDATE 2:55PM EST: Verizon, ATT, Sprint and other wireless carriers are all experiencing technical problems. It appears that their systems are overloaded as people scramble to use their mobile devices. Verizon says they have no damage to their network, and the issue is simply an overload.

UPDATE 2:50PM EST: The earthquake had no immediate apparent effect on subways and other forms of mass transit in the Tri-State Area. The Long Island Rail Road issued a statement saying their service was unaffected and running on or close to schedule. New Jersey Transit issued no alerts.

UPDATE 2:42PM EST: Fox News reports that two nuclear reactors near the epicenter have been taken off line.

UPDATE 2:35PM EST: The Washington Post quotes a a USGS official as saying, “We would certainly expect aftershocks.” The USGS suggests that the quake is the largest to originate in Virginia since May 31, 1897.

UPDATE 2:30PM EST: In New York, City Hall was also evacuated after a tremor was felt. The 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying as hundreds of people were seen leaving the building.

UPDATE 2:27PM EST: JFK Airport has ben temporarily closed as a result of the quake.

UPDATE 2:26PM EST: The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was 3.7 miles deep and struck near Mineral, Va., a city 83 miles from Washington, D.C.

UPDATE 2:20PM EST: The tremors were felt as far away as Martha’s Vineyard, Detroit and parts of Ohio. That’s a really wide area.

UPDATE 2:14PM EST: The U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and other buildings were evacuated. Pictures in the Capitol building reportedly fell from the walls.

UPDATE 2:03PM EST: Reuters reports a 6.2 magnitude earthquake centered near Mineral, Va., rocked the mid-Atlantic states and was felt as far north at Manhattan and as far south as North Carolina. The Associated Press reports that the Pentagon is being evacuated.

FIRST REPORT 1:55PM EST: The entire NYC are is currently shaking due to an earthquake recorded as a 6.0.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Why Do They Hate Us So Much?

Why Do They Hate Us So Much?

We are a minority people living in an area about the size of New Jersey!

But our enemies, the 22 Arab Nations, on landmass maybe a million times (?) larger than Israel are apoplectic in their frenzied hatred and aggression centered on this tiny country. Do you think they will not be punished for all the atrocities perpetrated on the Jews?

Have the Arabs not enough land?

Not enough space to house all their 21st Century nomad tribes?

Why Do They Hate Us So Much?

• Mideast Quartet alarmed by Israel settlement plans
• US condemns Ariel construction
• OECD: Settlements weaken Israeli economy
• 930 Har Homa housing units okayed
• New housing projects planned for east Jerusalem
• Palestinian rights body: UN must compel Israel to halt settlements
• A United Nations committee on Palestinian rights released a statement Saturday in which it said that the international community needs to take “credible and decisive action” to compel Israel to halt its settlement activity in Palestinian territories."

Why Do They Hate Us So Much?

Who gave you (hypocrites of the world) the right to tell us not to defend our lives?

You condemn those that kill our men, women and children.
You do not condemn us for protecting our men, women and children!

We Jewish Citizens need homes for our growing families.
We Israelis need to expand our presence on our G-d given Land.

We won current possession via a defensive war. A war perpetrated not by just anyone, but by an (illegal) act of aggressive war. They lost, we won. We are now in possession and the rightful heirs. The war of 1967 placed us on the receiving end of attack, we defended and won.

This Land was originally given to us by the G-d of the world, which supposedly (?) is the Allah that Arabs pray to five times a day.

Allah never gave this Land to the Arabs. They were fragmented warring clans roaming Saudia Arabia. Not until their Mohammed arrived in the 7th Century were they ever organized; they were nomad tribes roaming and living by the sword. Their Koran even says that we Jews are the rightful heirs and will one day return to resettle our Land, at the end of days.

Only Yaakov Avinu and his 12 sons and their descendants are (inheritors) entitled to this Land.

Why is the world in such an uproar because we have returned home? And now we are growing and we need our Land to build homes and raise more families.

We are so sorry that you don't want us to survive. Your former plan, led by the Nazis, failed.

Why Do They Hate Us So Much?

Because we are G-d's children on earth? As children, we do not always behave correctly, but we deserve to live. G-d will not let us be destroyed. You tried but G-d prevented you from succeeding.

He Will Stop You Again

Permanently

Caution ... In Wartime!

WE ARE IN A WAR

WestBank Mama Gives Her Children (Israelis) Mussar:

"WE ARE AT WAR – THIS IS NOT A VIDEO GAME. . . the army has already asked people to refrain from taking pictures of rocket hits and publishing them on Facebook and on their blogs. Posting videos of the Iron Dome system is the same thing. For those who will argue that the IDF posts these videos too, I point out to you that they never do this in “real time”.

"the terrorists are reading the blogs and facebook just like you are. They are learning from every bit of information, and are using this information to help them improve their aim."

"“Loose lips sink ships” is not just a slogan from World War Two. It applies to every word, picture, or video that you put on your blog, tweet, facebook page, or email. Think twice (at least) before posting anything."

___________________________

The War is getting more insidious every day.

Countdown to September.

It Is Better To Go To A House Of Mourning...

The Torah says " it is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting, for that is the end of all man, and the living should take it to heart." (koheles 7:2)

This is what you might hear at a home in mourning:

"He was always calm and collected, strong and brave, witty and intelligent, handsome and caring, a remarkable individual who will be deeply and sorelymissed. We are privileged and proud to have shared our lives with him." (thus person was killed by a shark, while he was on vacation with his new wife.)

A funeral was held for Staff Sgt. Moshe Naftali of Ofra a"h, aged 22, who was killed in a gun battle with the terrorists. His commander called him "salt of the land," and said Moshe "had a sense of humor and was moral and professional... We will do anything we can to follow in Moshe's footsteps." (one of the very young soldiers who defend and protect our beleaguered people and country)

Whenever I read about someone killed in an unusual tragedy, something gruesome and out of the ordinary, and then the family or friends describe the personality of the deceased, they enumerate character traits of the deceased.

They are always positive and seem to capture the essence of the deceased's Neshoma. Quite the opposite of much sinas chinam that one hears on the street, reads in the paper, and is the basis for protests and aggression between Jews. "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." (Newton's laws of Universal Gravitation)

For some reason, I imagine that these are messages to the Jewish People, especially when they appear in the media. Perhaps these are character traits that HaShem wants us to emulate. Like short SOS messages punctuating the fabric of life.

Apologize OR ELSE!

Obama didn't have the courage to call Netanyahu himself, but instead sent Hilary Clinton to demand an apology be given to Turkey ... because it was hurting their efforts in the region!? "Or else!" that sounds like something (Obama) a spoiled narcissist would say. Where is Obama's apology to the American people for the economic mess. (Or else 2012)

Why not get Turkey to mend their ways. If they're the one causing the trouble, get them to apologize for instigating terror in the first place. Let Turkey fight it out alone with Assad?

I'm proud of Israel's response:

"Israeli diplomats in Washington told the newspaper that they had received a communique from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisting that the rift between Israel and Turkey was harming American interests in the region, such as affecting regime change in neighboring Syria.

But Israel does not intend to apologize to Turkey for the deaths of Turkish pro-Hamas activists who attacked IDF soldiers, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday. Clinton and U.S. President Barack Obama have pressured Israel recently to improve ties with Turkey." VosizNeias.

Oh, The World Is So Troubled ...

And they have nothing else to be "concerned" about other than Israel providing housing for it's citizens ... Again
Do you want to push Israel's families into Ghettos again ...

Quartet Ignores Israeli 'Consensus' "The United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations – together, the self-proclaimed Middle East Quartet – expressed “concern” Tuesday over construction for Israelis in the Samaria city of Ariel. “The Quartet is greatly concerned by Israel's recent announcements to advance planning for new housing units in Ariel and East Jerusalem,” the group declared. A United States State Department spokeswoman termed the housing plans "deeply troubling" and "counterproductive.""

Hey, Quartet, what about those anti-Semites in Norway?

And AlQaida infiltrating the Sinai?
And what about those rockets still flying into Israel from Gaza?
And Syrian citizens being murdered by their own government?
And the Euro sinking?
And the European countries economic doom?
And the Wild Mobsters burning and looting London, England?
And Flashmobs terrorizing and looting businesses in many cities in America?

What have I missed to add to this list?

I think you are overlooking trouble in your own backyards. Remember, "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones..."


Your whole outlook is skewered and condescending ...

Oh, and your anti-Israeli bias is showing!

Neighbor chases kidnapper and saves girl

Because of the widely publicized tragedy in Boro Park, children may be safer on the streets, especially outside their own homes, as alert and brave neighbors and citizens jump into action to prevent the kidnapping and harm to young innocent children. The following news item highlights this.

ALBUQUERQUE - 6-year-old girl was taken by a stranger from a playground right outside her South Valley home.

An alert neighbor says the man tried to coax the little girl into his van. “The child was being resistant to his enticement and that is what caused him to get out of the car and actually push her into the van,” said Officer Robert Gibbs with the Albuquerque Police Department. The neighbor then jumped into his own car and chased after the suspected kidnapper, while calling 911.

Its Infectious

Is That Rain I Smelled?

August of 2010 was very very hot. It was our first month in our new homeland. I remember going from one office to another in the middle of the day, sweating and very thirsty. Soon I learned to go earlier and bring along a beverage. Finally arriving home and on went the AC so we could rest a bit.

This year was a leap year, which means most holidays etc., fall a bit later in the month(s). That might be why when August 2011 came around the mornings and evenings got much cooler, and I started seeing clouds in the mornings. The first Shabbat in Av, Lil Shabbos, I was amazed to smell rain. I know it was rain. I saw moistened surfaces. However this past Shabbat grey clouds blanketed much of Yerushalayim. This was a shocker. Is the 'Israeli' Fall on the way? Thought it was going to rain, I could smell it in the air. But where I live there was no rain. Just a sky overcast with grey clouds as far as I could see.

It would be interesting to know what others thought of this phenomenon?

What in the world does this mean? Are we to receive blessings early this year, before Sukkos? Are these clouds a foreboding symbol of days to come? Are the protests stimulating the water element in the skies?this might mean rain "not in its season"!

The Torah says our blessings come down to us as rains in their season. We are an agricultural (and eclectically inventive) society, so the rain (and blessings) are vital for us - being communication from Shomayim as to our worthiness.

B"H the sun finally appeared and the rest of the afternoon was very pleasant indeed.

One for One

Ok, now its clear. One State for One People!

A Little Gratitude Please

A little social justice, maybe?

In August 2005 the Israeli Government emptied Gush Katif of Jews, and the beautiful Jewish homes and beautiful Synagogues were demolished. A Jewish People were devastated and homeless.

In August 2011 the Israeli Government will remove the Tent Cities from their locations around the country.

Let these tent dwellers recall Gush Katif as they are 'removed' and be thankful and show some gratitude that they live in a Jewish country, with a Jewish Govt that cares about it's citizens. These tent dwellers will still have homes to go to and a Jewish way of life. The rest of the world is going through turmoil, terrorism, and economic stress.

Be thankful and show some gratitude to the One G-d for the Blessings and abundance we have.

Shabbat Shalom!

More Than Meets The Eye Under Those Tents

*Ohelei Levana

Is anyone really analyzing

what this "protest" phenomenon is really about?

The above title is a play on Kobi Arieli's facebook page *rant on the 'White Tribe', partly appearing as A 'Totalitarian Media' Hoax, at Arutz Sheva. I've never heard of Kobi Arieli, but after reading about him, he sounds for real.

He says some real things, like "There is no social protest. The protest is a Ynet protest. It exists in Yediot Aharonot, Ynet and Channel 2 news -- three totalitarian media outlets that shamelessly host it and provide it with life, day after day, week after week. Take the media out of the protest – and there is no protest… The entire media has been enlisted to its own tribal party"

Gil Ronen at INNnews says that the Press has inflated the number of protestors, from 300,000 to, in actuality, 65,000. This seems to add to Kobi's assertions.

Perhaps those behind this group made it "their" problem in order to subvert the public, undermine the government, all to push the "leftist agenda" to bring down this government because this government is not giving away our Land fast enough? Is their agenda really the Arab agenda! Could it be that they are hoping to mesh their agenda with the September Arab agenda, only a month away.

Kobi says our Government is "not to blame for anything. It is stable, strong and has a well thought out economic agenda. One does not need to agree with its world view, but we should be proud that this is one of the only [Israeli] governments that has an ordered fiscal outlook".

Kobi adds, what especially sounds like an honest appraisal, "'Additional targets of the 'protest' are the 'parasitical' sectors that contribute nothing and which the middle class has to carry on its back… There are four such sectors, if I understand correctly: hareidis, Arabs, settlers and poor people. You will never hear about two of these: not about poor people, because it is not nice to attack poor people, and not about Arabs, because this contradicts another of the Tribe's principles – the Tribe is supposed to like Arabs (originally, the White Tribe is 'leftist'). Therefore you will only hear complaints about settlers and hareidis. "

But Tent City, the Haredim and Settlers want to join in to help your endeavor to succeed. Why are you rebuffing them? Perhaps this group has taken a legitimate problem that exists, mostly for those excluded [i.e., the Haredim, and the so-called 'Settlers', the really really poor, such as that of M.D., a tent-city resident in Jesse Cohen, who has been homeless for years. And who appears in an article nearly a half-page in the Monday JPost print edition, pg 3.], and brought it out into the open. However it affects them, they are not the really needy.

The Haredim support honest efforts. The Paamonim Organization has begun to offer "Financial Planning" counseling to the families in the tents. They indicate that housing has become a "matter of concern", but also emphasize the importance of personal responsibility, and learning how to balance budgets. You can learn about Paamonim here.

The religious have been crying out for years about housing shortage. "Maybe now that the leftist activists are on the streets, the government will be forced ...".

And the settlers contributed with their "Blessing of the Tent" handouts.]

The leftists have been bemoaning the so-called laziness of the religious. But what happens if this group suddenly floods the job market like they did at the "Haredi Religious Community Floods Job Fair," at which 4,000 men and women searched for new employment opportunities. Will the leftists then bemoan that not enough opportunities exist?

Kobi says, to the chagrin of many, "The argument that says 'it's all the settlers' fault' is a political argument and therefore not valid… Political arguments are decided at the ballot box. Surprise: it was decided at the ballot box."

But, Kobi, maybe what started as a Media "White Tribal" incentive has taken hold and the REAL needy people finally have a (leftist) 'voice' that the government is listening to? Maybe these tents will blossom into much needed affordable housing. What we don't need is to exclude those who truly need a real roof over their head and not a political tent.

On the other hand, when one reads articles like this Swelling list of demands fuels Israel protests in the Financial Times, accompanied by a gruesome picture of protesters with expressions like those one sees in coverage of the similar in Egypt or elsewhere, then one must give pause to reason.

These are not the Tent City residents I see on the Ben Yehuda triangle!

Who are they?

Especially when FT writes: "The ultra-Orthodox have long drawn the ire of Israel’s more secular middle class. Not only do they depend on generous state handouts to support their large families, but most also refuse to serve in the Israeli army. The settlers, meanwhile, enjoy cheap, subsidised housing and benefit from public services that are far superior to those available to Israelis living inside the Green Line." This is media incitement.

Is there a media campaign beginning to sweep the newsworld? Another sinister act of written warfare? CNBC's Global Unrest is connecting the Tent City people in Israel to that of rioting in Great Britain, Spain, Greece, Portugal, the Phillipines, China, and of all places, Syria. However, they didn't mention America: Philadelphia, Chicago, D.C., California. Something is dramatically wrong here! Maybe Kobi is on target?

It would serve the media of the world best if instead of inciteful reporting, that plays into the fanatical facebookers and twitterers as they jump into Flash Mobs rioting all over the map, in anger, destruction, and bloodshed. The "race riots" in North London are an example of this type of incitement and rioting.

What started out as "we the people" type 'friendly singing or dancing', has been usurped by gangsters, with their brand of 'people unfriendly attacks." The media should be using wise language to report and quell incitement. We don't all have to know the devilish of actions by irrational terror gangs.

Are they fueling the public in anticipation of the "Big September Lie" to be perpetrated by the UN upon Israel and the Jewish Nation?

Tisha B'Av

So beautiful.

I just read:

NO MORE SADNESS on Israel Rising

You just helped me to understand why when in all the other years the sadness was overwhelming as these 9 days approached. Now, my husband and I are here in Yerushalayim, and today erev Tisha B'Av I feel a little like I am preparing for a Yom Tov.

Maybe because I see with my own eyes the rebuilding of Yerushalayim, the excavations being done daily, and the artifacts being revealed for us to marvel at and find in them the message from Shomayim.

Just recently the Pomegranate Bell, and now a 2000 year old Sword and Menorah Sketch!

We Need to be Reminded ...

I love to visit West Bank Mama. While I refuse to believe there is a West Bank, I know there is a Mama. And one of her best contributions to the online community, was when she added the following "The ABC's of the Middle East Conflict" to her blog. You need to visit her regularly for a dose of practicality:

The “Demographic Time-Bomb” is a Sham

The contention that Israel must abandon Judea & Samaria, in order to secure Jewish majority, is based on gross errors.

The American-Israel Demographic Research Group (http://www.aidrg.com/) documents in its recent BESA report, “The Million Person Gap” and in its “Forecast for Israel 2025 and Beyond” presented at Herzliya:

• In 1997, the PCBS openly quantified 325,258 residents living abroad and 210,000 counted by Israel in its Census base while over-estimating 300,000 births and over 300,000 in immigration errors during a seven year period through 2004.
• In 2004, there were 1.4 million Arabs in Judea & Samaria, not 2.4 million.
• Since 1997, Jewish population growth has exceeded Arab growth in Judea & Samaria. Average Arab net-emigration has ranged between 10 – 20,000per year and has risen sharply during recent months.
• There is a solid 67% Jewish majority between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. That percentage has not changed in more than 40 years
• Annual Jewish births have risen by 35 percent since 1995. Arab birth rates have stagnated over the same period.
• Jewish population growth in Judea and Samaria has exceeded Arab growth since 1997. Arab emigration is on the rise.
• There is no demographic justification for abandoning Judea & Samaria to the terror gangs of Fatah and Hamas!
• Jewish demography is a strategic asset, not a liability. Leaders shape demography according to strategy and not vise versa.
• Judea & Samaria provide 40% of Israel’s water. They are the “Golan Heights” of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the coastal plane.

THE DEMOGRAPHIC MOMENTUM IS JEWISH!

LET’S KEEP IT THAT WAY.

Connecting the Tents of Protest

So, this is a struggle for all the common middle-class Israelis, and the graduating students, protesting for social change to ease the financial burden of not being able to afford homes, raising children, etc. . . . ?

Isn't this for the benefit of ALL Israelis in need of housing and an affordable economy...?

Is that why ...

"Anarchists Set Fire to Nationalist Tent: Angry about nationalist presence in 'their' protest, anarchists set fire to a tent and attack a cameraman" by Gil Ronen INNnews.

This so-called apolitical 'tent protesters' are being funded by The New Israel Fund. Israel Matzav has several nice explanations of the New Israel Fund (NIF) and their interference in Israeli life and Israeli politics.

42 Knesset Members have a Solution for Israel's housing crisis. A solution that I agree with wholeheartedly.

After all,

"Zionism from its outset was a settlement movement...If we stop going on this path, how can we justify the faith that all of Zion belongs to us?" - Speaker of the Knesset Ruby Rivlin (from Quote of the Day at Life in Israel.

4.2 EARTHQUAKE

EARTHQUAKE

... along coastal areas, primarily felt in Lower Galilee, Haifa Bay, Ra'anana, Petah Tikva.

"We felt the whole tower move," staffer on 27th floor of U. of Haifa.

Unusual earthquake

between Nicosia and Israel

Photo from USGS




Day after 300,000 protest across Israel .... on Shabbat!
Do they have no sense?
They call it social justice?
They call it a New Independence?




Do they want to bring down the government?

Series of Videos Addressing Abuse of Children

I AM MOVING THIS UP TO KEEP IT FOREMOST IN READERS' MINDS:


"The Jewish body of thought—beginning with Abraham, continuing with Moses, and spanning more than three thousand years, is profound, relevant, stimulating to the mind, inspiring to the soul, and moving to the heart. Join the Yeshiva.net online learning community for an experience you will never forget. Here in our yeshiva, the Old Testament is not old, and the word of God is applied to real life.

"TheYeshiva.net is an online institute for Torah study. Offering lectures and courses – in English, Hebrew and Yiddish -- on diverse aspects of Jewish thought: The weekly Torah portion, Talmud, Biblical studies, Midrash, Kabbalah and Chassidism, Jewish law, history, spirituality, and psychology, life-themes and current events. The website, which will host live debates, musical programs, and spiritual encounters, will also serve as a “think-tank” to apply Jewish thought to the challenges of contemporary life..

"Classes are presented by high-caliber teachers, using an academic yet engaging approach. Each class is accompanied with full work sheets and curriculums and can be downloaded as video and audio [via phone, call 614.715.3800 using access code 38076#]. Participants join in weekly from all over the world.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Jacobson, Shlit"a

Unfortunately there have been many reports of abuse of children appearing in the newspapers and in online news and blogs. It is a appaling that this problem exists, but at the same time it is encouraging that finally it is out in the open. It is being discussed, approaches being suggested, legal and religious, and much discourse pro and con. But the problem still exists because parents and the Jewish Community cannot agree on how to deal with it, what approach to take. This battle must be fought. The children must be the winners in this war, not just wounded survivors from the battlefield.

It pains me deeply that some of our beautiful Jewish children, who were given up to HaShem as a guarantor that HaShem's children, we the Jewish Nation, would study and live by the laws given to us as a People. Why would anyone jeopardize their future inheritance over base pleasures. Mishpacha magazine [issue 365, pages 16-17] featured a two page commentary entitled "Molech Reinvented," [by Rabbi Henoch Plotnik, mara d'asra of Congregation Bais Tefila in Yehivas Me'or HaTorah in Chicago] in which he brings to light the mis-matching of young boys to the wrong yeshivas, with the best parental intentions, only to find out too late that in their decision-making they were offering up their children to "their" misplaced aspirations, instead of matching the education to what their child "needs for his neshoma."

After all, isn't this the foundation on which Torah education was based? Isn't this the purpose of organized learning instituted by first century sage Yehoshua ben Gamla (Bava Bathra 21a).

In more ways than none this evil Molech has many tentacles grabbing at innocent Jewish children. This Evil is trying to destroy the Jewish Nation. As my contribution to bring awareness and solutions, below are a series of lectures given by Rabbi Chaim Itche Drizin, MA, LMFT a licensed marriage and family therapist [Lcidchai@gmail.com]. He combines Narrative Therapy with ancient Torah wisdom and Kabbalistic & Chassidic thought, in this series which is featured on the Yeshiva.net

Child Abuse in Our Communities

The Life-Long Effects of Child Abuse -- Lecture 1 of 6

Empowering and Protecting Our Children Beforehand -- Lecture 2 of 6

Responding To a Child Who Was Molested -- Lecture 3 of 6

Healing the Victims -- Lecture 4 of 6

Understanding the Motivation of the Molester -- Lecture 5 of 6

Talking About It -- Lecture 6 of 6

Intimacy in Flames

As the Jewish future was consumed in Roman flames,
G-d impregnated them with a seed

By Y.Y. Jacobson

Why is Israel Afraid at The Yeshiva.

On the ninth of the month of Av in the year 70 CE (next Tuesday, August 9th) the Roman legions in Jerusalem smashed through the fortress tower of Antonia into the Holy Temple and set it afire. In the blackened remains of the sanctuary lay more than the ruins of the great Jewish revolt for political independence; it appeared that Judaism itself was shattered beyond repair.

Out of approximately four to five million Jews in the world, over a million died in that abortive war for independence. Many died of starvation, others by fire and crucifixion. So many Jews were sold into slavery and given over to the gladiatorial arenas and circuses that the price of slaves dropped precipitously, fulfilling the ancient curse: "There you will be offered for sale as slaves, and there will be no one willing to buy" (Deuteronomy 26:68). The destruction was preceded by events so devastating that from an objective perspective, it seemed that the Jewish people had breathed its last breath.

This is what amazed a philosopher like Nietzsche, a fierce and fateful critic of the Jews, as it has so many other thinkers throughout the ages. In Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist the German philosopher wrote: "The Jews are the most remarkable people in the history of the world, for when they were confronted with the question, to be or not to be, they chose, with perfectly unearthly deliberation, to be at any price ... They defined themselves counter to all those conditions under which a nation was previously able to live ... Psychologically, the Jews are a people gifted with the very strongest vitality ... The Jews are the very opposite of decadents."

How did the Jews achieve this indeed?

The Cherubs Embracing

The Talmud relates a profoundly strange incident that occurred moments before the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple:

“When the pagans entered the Holy Temple, they saw the cherubs cleaving to each other. They took them out to the streets and said: ‘These Jews ... is this what they occupy themselves with?’ With this, they debased [the Jewish people], as it is written: ‘All who had honored her have despised her, for they have seen her nakedness (1).’”

The meaning of these words is this: The innermost chamber of the Jerusalem Temple, the most sacred site in Judaism, was known as the "Holy of Holies" and seen as the spiritual epicenter of the universe. Two golden cherubs – they were two winged figures, one male and one female -- were located in the "Holy of Holies." These cherubs represented the relationship between the cosmic groom and bride, between G-d and His people.

The Talmud teaches (2) that when the relationship between groom and bride was sour the two faces were turned away from each other, as when spouses are angry with each other. When the relationship was healthy, the two faces of the cherubs would face each other. And when the love between G-d and His bride was at its peak the cherubs would embrace “as a man cleaves to his wife.”

Now, the Talmud is telling us, that when the enemies of Israel invaded the Temple – during the time of its destruction in the Hebrew month of Av (3) -- they entered into the Holy of Holies, a place so sacred that entry into it was permitted only to a single individual, the High Priest, and only on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. There they saw the cherubs embracing each other. They dragged them out of the Temple and into the streets, vulgarizing their sacred significance (4).

This seems bizarre. When the enemies of Israel invaded the Temple to destroy it, the relationship between G-d and His people was at its lowest possible point, for that was the reason for the destruction and the subsequent exile. The Jews were about to become estranged from G-d for millennia. The manifest presence of divinity in the world, via the Temple in Jerusalem, would cease; Jews and G-d would now be exiled from each other.

Yet, paradoxically, it was precisely at that moment that the cherubs were intertwined, symbolizing the profoundest relationship between G-d and Israel. How are we to understand this (5)?

Preparing for the Voyage

The most daring explanation was given by the heir to the founder of Chassidism, Rabbi Dovber, known as the Magid of Mezrich (d. in 1772). Quoting the injunction of the sages that a man ought to consort with his wife prior to leaving home on a journey, the Maggid suggests that G-d, prior to His long journey away from home, expressed His intimacy with the Jewish people. Prior to the onset of a long exile, the cherubs were intertwined, representing the intimacy preceding the journey (6).

What the Chassidic master was conveying through this dazzling metaphor – and it is a central theme in Chassidic thought -- was that it was at the moment of the destruction that a new relationship between G-d and His people was beginning to develop. The greatest moment of crisis was also a moment of intimacy. As the Temple was going up in flames, and with it so much of Jewish life and history, G-d impregnated (metaphorically speaking) a seed of life within the Jewish soul; He implanted within His people the potential for a new birth.

For two millennia, this "seed" has sustained us, giving the Jewish people the courage and inspiration to live and propser. Judaism flourished in the decades and centuries following the destruction of the Temple in an unprecedented fashion: The Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash and Kabbalah were all born during those centuries. The very tragic conditions of exile became catalysts for unparalleled rejuvenation. The closing of one door opened many more.

Many empires, religions and cultures attempted to demonstrate to the Jewish people that their role in the scheme of creation has ended, or that it has never began, luring them into the surrounding, prevailing culture. But the “intimacy” they experienced, so to speak, with G-d just moments before He "departed" from them, left its indelible mark. It imbued them with a vision, a dream and an unshakable commitment. Throughout their journeys, often filled with extraordinary anguish, they clung to their faith that they were in a covenant with G-d to transform the world into a divine abode; to heal a fractured world yearning to reunite with its own true reality.

Birth

This grants us a deeper understanding into the ancient Jewish tradition (7) that the Moshiach (Messiah) was born on the ninth of Av. At the moment the Temple was about to be engulfed in flames, the dream of redemption was born. There was an intimacy in the flames and it produced a hidden seed that would eventually bring healing to a broken world. Think about it: The very possibility for the rabbis of those generation to declare that Moshiach was born on the ninth of Av, was nothing but testimony to the intimacy that accompanied the milieu of estrangement and exile.

Now we are finally ready for the birth (8).

1) Talmud, Yoma 54b.
2) See Talmud Yoma ibid; Bava Batra 99a.
3) The 9th of Av is the date of the first and second Temple’s destruction, by the Babylonians and Romans, in the year 3339 (423 BCE) and 3830 (70 CE).
4) Talmud Yuma ibid. The Ark of Testimony, with the keruvim atop its cover, were hidden in an underground chamber in the Temple 22 years before the destruction of the First Temple, where they remain to this day (according to most opinions). Thus, neither the Babylonians nor the Romans would have found the Ark in the Holy of Holies. The Talmud explains that the keruvim that were dragged out into the streets were not the keruvim from on top of the ark, but reliefs that decorated the walls of the Holy of Holies and which likewise acted as a “barometer” of the state of marriage between G-d and Israel.
5) This question is raised in Maharsah to Talmud Yuma ibid.
6) Quoted in Benei Yisachar in his discourses on the month of Av.
7) Yerushalmi Berachos 2:4.
8) This essay is based on a discourse delivered by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on Purim 1984 (published in Sefer Hamaamarim Melukat vol. 2 pp. 269-270).

Eye Opener

Ok, now the Arab Spring is in Israel, and they're sitting in "Tents"

And these in no way resemble Avraham Avinu's Tent – quite the opposite.

The Land, Yerushalayim, Zion, Moshiach

"In the Vanguard" has given us an interesting read, Neturei Karta & Chabad, to which I have posted my comment here"

When we bentsch after eating,
for some 3 times a day,
and others maybe less
365 days a year,
over thousands of years:

Our first Bracha is for the nourishment,
the second is for OUR Land,
the third is for Jerusalem,
the fourth is for G-d's Goodness,
then we have a series of situations upon which we ask HaShem to shower His mercy upon us.

We need the nourishment, from Our Land, to build Yerushalayim (the Temple), in order to bring G-d's Goodness to the world.

In the third Bracha, for Yerushalayim, we ask for mercy on "Your city" "on Zion" and then on "Moshiach" (the house of David), which some say: We need to build Yerushalayim, build Zion (Har HaBayit) and then Moshiach will come.

This last sentence I heard from a Rebbetzin that lives in the heart of the Moslem quarter in the Old City, surrounded by Arab families, and is her raison d'etre for living where she and her family live, in their effort to BUILD Yerushalayim and Zion.

The Bracha for OUR Land comes before Yerushalayim and Moshiach. So, I would venture that perhaps this means we need to rebuild the Temple so that Moshiach can come?

The Artscroll siddur Kol Yaakov (p. 188), in its footnote to the Bracha of Yerushalayim, says in part, that after the "destruction" and exile, the blessing was changed to embody a prayer for the return of the Land, the Temple and then the Davidic dynasty. (Not that Artscroll is the definitive answer, but the text does read that way.)

Something Light For a Change

A little light weight doggie diaper has been invented by ...
You guessed it, by an Israeli to eliminate that squishy feeling when your foot hits the pavement in the dark of night while on a midnight stroll

The end of dog poo on the shoe

Norway Update

Update to an earlier post – The Truth is.

An interesting little article concerning Norway: Fatah Youth condemns Norway attacks . . ."

Go West "Young Men" ... 西部大開發青年會

"Rural America now accounts for just 16 percent of the nation's population, the lowest ever. The latest 2010 census numbers hint at an emerging America where, by midcentury, city boundaries become indistinct and rural areas grow ever less relevant. Many communities could shrink to virtual ghost towns as they shutter businesses and close down schools, demographers say." [And now moreso after the floods and drought, ruining what's left of farmland.]

西部大開發青年會

But I say maybe it's time to reinvent the "Westward Ho Young Men" to find gold and develop the heartland of America. Reinvent the wheel! Create new business ventures. Develop new cities on top of ghost towns.

Sound strange?

Well that's what China wants to do in America. Better start taking Chinese language classes. You might need to know Chinese in order to do business with their new model enterprise.

China has 'the' solution for what ails America:

China Wants to Build a 50 Square Mile City in the US. And the EUTimes explains:

"Thanks to the trillions of dollars that the Chinese have made flooding our shores with cheap products, China is now in a position of tremendous economic power. So what is China going to do with all of that money? One thing that they have decided to do is to buy up pieces of the United States and set up “special economic zones” inside our country from which they can continue to extend their economic domination. One of these “special economic zones” would be just south of Boise, Idaho and the Idaho government is eager to give it to them.

"The idea would be to build a self-contained city with all services included. It would be modeled after the “special economic zones” that currently exist in China. Perhaps the most famous of these “special economic zones” is Shenzhen. Back in the 1970s, Shenzhen was just a very small fishing village. Today it is a sprawling metropolis of over 14 million people. If the Chinese have their way, we will soon be seeing these “special economic zones” pop up all over the United States. So exactly who is “Sinomach”?

"SINOMACH has the most diversified business coverage, a complete business chain, and the strongest R&D capabilities in China’s machinery industry. Under its portfolio, there are 50 wholly owned and holding subsidiaries, including 6 listed companies and more than 70 overseas offices and branches. There are close to 80,000 employees working for SINOMACH around the world. For years, SINOMACH has sustained over 30% annual growth, with main business revenue reaching 15 billion US$ in 2009."

西部大開發青年會