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28 February 2019

The Left's hypocritical virtue-signaling over the Otzma Yehudit deal

A Great Article by Rabbi Prof. Dov Fischer 
The Left's hypocritical virtue-signaling over the Otzma Yehudit deal

The United States Democratic Party for a generation gave its highest honors to a racist, Jew-hater, Black-baiter named Robert F. Byrd. He was a Ku Klux Klan leader, the Exalted Cyclops, and even after he realized that he needed to withdraw from the KKK, he continued to be a racist who despised Blacks for their very skin color and who hated Jews and Israel. Yet he rose to be a major United States Senator.

To this day the “Byrd Rule” impacts how American budgets are passed. His name is spoken with reverence by liberal Democrats. When he finally was called back to his Maker to receive his just and fitting eternal reward, all the leaders of the Democratic Party were there to mourn at his funeral, including Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, and New York’s utterly unprincipled Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who changes policies and beliefs as fast as the newest survey poll is published. Others who shed all self-respect and attended this racist bigot’s funeral included Senators Chuck Schumer, Al Franken, and Chris Dodd.

Last year, the Democrats elevated Keith Ellison to the position of Deputy Chairman of the Democrat National Committee. Ellison is a Jew-hater, documented many times over. Here is a complete audio and transcript of a private fundraising event that Ellison addressed, unaware that his Jew-hate was being audio-recorded. Subsequently, he has gone on to be elected Minnesota Attorney-General, and his Congressional seat has been filled by an even more vicious and open Jew-hater, Ilhan Omar. Not only was she elected by a liberal Democrat district, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed her to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And so it goes.

The Left in America and elsewhere operate with a shameless hypocrisy and inconsistency that knows no bounds.

In America, the same prominent liberals who oppose a wall on the southern border still surround their own homes with walls and barriers.

They oppose government vouchers for special private charter schools that offer real hope for the children of inner-city minority families, a chance for them to rise beyond the limits of failed public schools, but these same liberals send their own children to expensive private schools because they can afford them.

They complain about 1950s McCarthyism and Blacklists while they deny free speech to conservative voices whom they bar from campuses, and they hire only similar-thinking Leftists to academic social sciences departments, newsrooms, and entertainment jobs.

It often is said that if liberals did not live by double standards, they would have no standards at all.
The Left in America and Israel now is in a tizzy because the Religious Zionist Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party and their allied Ichud Leumi (National Union) party now have entered into a minor arrangement at the last minutes of the pre-election registration period with the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party. Prime Minister Netanyahu has been sucked into the controversy because he helped broker the deal. The allegation is that the Otzma party is not worthy to be in the Knesset. Here are the realities for peope who are honest and fair:

An Israeli election is made up of Israelis. When there are two Jews, there are three opinions. This is a meme. When Israel’s first president, Chaim Weitzmann, first met with United States President Harry Truman, the latter said that he bore great responsibilities as President of 150 million people. Weitzmann responded, “Yes, but I am President of nearly a million Presidents.”

Thus, there now are 47 different political slates running for Knesset in the April 9 election. To keep some control on the insanity of narcissists who run slates with no chance to get elected, Israel has a rule that no party can enter the Knesset unless it obtains at least 3.25 percent of the total votes cast. Because the Knesset is comprised of 120 seats, any party that does meet that threshold stands in most cases to enter with four seats or more. That means that a party that wins enough votes for three seats — that is one-fortieth of the 120-seat Knesset, or approximately 2.5 percent of the vote — does not get in. All three seats it seemed to earn thus are lost and wasted. All those votes are thrown into the trash and do not count.

With Israeli media conducting regular survey polling, it became clear that Jewish Home might attract three percent of the vote, maybe more and maybe not. Although that tally represents three or four seats, all those votes would be wasted and lost if the tally fell a bit short of 3.25 percent. Otzma was polling at more than two percent, too, standing to win enough votes for two or three seats — but also standing ultimately to waste all of them because they might fall short of 3.25 percent.

Together, then, Jewish Home and Otzma could attract more than six percent of the vote — that is seven or eight seats. By contrast, if they run separately, all those seven and eight seats could be lost to the paper shredder.

Polls show that a coalition of the nationalist-leaning Likud with the even more dependably nationalist “New Right” party of Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, and leading opinion maker and journalist Caroline Glick, along with alliances that include the Jewish Home grouping, Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party (if he exceeds the threshold), Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beyteinu (Israel Is Our Home) party, the Ashkenazic Orthodox Agudat Israel (United Torah Judaism) party, and the Orthodox Sephardic Shas party — all that can emerge with a total coalition of 61-64 Knesset seats. That coalition would be enough to continue Israel on her decade-long path towards a more traditional, politically and socially conservative, religiously sensitive path.

If the Jewish Home and Otzma parties each run separately, garnering in the aggregate some six percent of the vote but each scoring below 3.25 percent, then their seven or eight seats could be lost — and the religious-nationalist coalition of 61-64 seats instead could falls to 54-58 Knesset seats in a 120-seat Knesset, just a bit too few to govern. (All these data assume that Moshe Feiglin’s right-wing Zehut (Identity) party and Rav Eli Yishai’s Orthodox Yachad (Together) party each will fail to reach the 3.25 percent threshold, although each will attract one percent or more of the ballots, enough votes otherwise to comprise one or two more religious-nationalist seats apiece, thus probably costing the religious-right camp two seats that will be completely wasted and lost.)

So that is what is on the table: Either Jewish Home and Otzma merge for the election, saving and assuring a continuing religious-right Government, or they run alone, handing the Government to the Left even though the Left will have received fewer votes and thus would reflect the minority.

The Israeli religious-right already experimented with fracturing itself into a million points of light once before, and that 1992 electoral disaster ended up costing the majority as several small parties each failed to meet the threshold, wasted the votes, and thus enabled Rabin to get into power and to stick Israel with its worst catastrophe since the early days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War: the disastrous 1994 Oslo Catastrophe. In 1992,

Geula Cohen’s right-wing Tehiya party fell just short of the 1.5 percent cut-off that existed then, wasting 31,957 votes and two seats. Similarly, the New Liberal Party of Yitzchak Moda’i broke off from the Likud, received 16,669 votes — all down the drain. Eliezer Mizrachi’s Haredi Geulat Yisrael party got 12,851 votes — down the drain. Rav Moshe Levenger of Kiryat Arba created his Torah Ve-Aretz party that received 3,708 votes — down the drain. Those wasted 65,185 votes qualified for more than three seats in the 13th Knesset, but they all were wasted. With those three seats lost, the religious-nationalist coalition reached 59 seats (Likud-32; Tzomet-8; National Religious Party/Mafdal-6; Shas-6; United Torah Judaism-4; Moledet-3) instead of 62. Therefore, Rabin [barely] took power and brought about catastrophe. That must not happen again.

The screaming and yelling by the critics of the Bayit Yehudi-National Union deal with Otzma is not about Otzma. In its American iteration, it is coming from secular Jewish Democrat Obama Liberals in the United States who are tired of seeing that the people of Israel prefer a religious-nationalist direction.

The intermarriage rate in America among non-Orthodox Jews now is at 71 percent. Their children — including the children of the leaders of the secular American Jewish groups — are intermarrying and disappearing. More than half of all Reform Jewish households now are intermarried. They are Obama Democrats, are not primarily focused on Jewish destiny, and they hate seeing a Prime Minister of Israel who is a strong enough Jew that he would address Congress directly and fight the disastrous Iran Deal despite the ire of Obama.

But Obama has passed like withering grass and a passing breeze. That speech by Prime Minister Netanyahu may not have won that day, but Bibi planted the seeds that took root and blossomed as America soon after rejecting Obama’s course and elected a new Government that indeed promptly abandoned the Iran Deal, even as it moved the American Israel embassy to Jerusalem and changed history by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

These same secular liberal Jewish leaders cowered and shivered when President Trump moved the embassy; they were terrified. They hate Bibi for exposing the anti-Israel animus of Obama and Kerry, further exposed when Obama and Kerry would not veto the last Security Council attack on Israel just before the two of them exited history. And they hate that the Prime Minister gets along so well with President Trump, whom they and their assimilated children cannot stand — although the religious-nationalist Jewish community of America stands solidly among President Trump’s strongest supporters.

The Israeli Central Elections Commission knows how to ban a political party it deems to be outside the pale. Thus, rightly or wrongly, it banned Rav Meir Kahane’s party in 1988. By contrast, the Otzma party was permitted to run in 2013, 2015, and again in 2019. In Israel, a fair process has determined that Otzma is a legitimate party, even if it pushes the envelope.

Those attacking the recent pre-election agreement know very little about the internal dealings, the Central Elections Commission process, and the phenomenon of votes wasted on narcissist parties that fail to reach the 3.25 percent threshold, ultimately denying the will of the electorate.

For me personally, Otzma is not my flavor. I am somewhere between Bayit Yehudi and Bennett-Shaked-Glick’s New Right. But it would be unconscionable for a recurrence of the 1992 splinterings to turn away Israel’s course from the religious-nationalist direction sought by the majority of its population. After the elections, when the thresholds have been met, Otzma and Jewish Home promptly will divorce or even annul their marriage of convenience, and life will proceed. Iran will continue trying to embed itself in Syria, and Hezbollah will continue planning for war in the north, as will Hamas in the south. America will be withdrawing from Syria, and we all may need to prepare, in Israel and in America, to fight a bad Mideast “peace plan” if one emerges.

At such a time, the survival of Israel, which ultimately is for G-d to direct and not for people, will be enhanced by a strong Government that stands with nationalist and conservative purpose and strength, underpinned by a commitment to Torah values. The majority of Israelis know this, and the votes of the majority must not be wasted.

This is not a time for a bunch of politically untested ex-generals, whose actual political positions are not even known, to experiment in an area outside their experience. Israel tried that with Rabin and got Oslo.

This is not a time for a bunch of politically untested ex-generals, whose actual political positions are not even known, to experiment in an area outside their experience. Israel tried that with Rabin, and he left Israel with Oslo’s curse. Israel TTtried it again with another general, Ehud Barak (who called himself “Mister Security”), and he left Israel with the Intifada he could not fathom or control and with a unilateral retreat from South Lebanon that created the political vacuum filled by the Hezbollah nightmare in the north. Even General Sharon, a hero in war, did not know how to make peace politically with strength, and his myopic unilateral retreat from Gaza resulted in another vacuum, now filled by Hamas in the south.

This is no time for war games and for experimenting with generals who may know how to fight but have not demonstrated under calmer and safer conditions that they grasp how to make peace with strength.

And if 1994 Oslo taught us anything, it taught us that the 1992 election-splintering disaster must never happen again.

R’ YY Jacobson – WATCH: The Story of Arele


Rabbi YY Jacobson - WATCH: The Story of Arele


The Story About A Young 34 Year Old Man Named Arele

Eleven months ago, Rabbi Aron "Arele” Oster went into Septic Shock, sending his family and the entire Klal Yisroel into shock of our own.

Through endless miracles, he has beat the odds, regaining consciousness, reconnecting with his wife and children and starting on the long road to his new life.

This Thursday, Arele will undergo a lifesaving surgery to amputate both arms below his elbows and both legs below his knees.

Arele is just 34 years old. A father of 2.

He's known as a shining beacon of passionate Torah learning, meticulous Yir'as Shomayim and humble Ahavas Yisroel.

He’s a soft-spoken husband, a doting father and a talented Baal Tefilla
Before the events of last Erev Pesach, Arele…

• Devoted hours every Friday to visit Yidden who are not yet observant
• Held numerous chavrusos with people new to Yiddishkeit
• Was a beloved Magid Shiur in the Mesivta in Monsey
• Was an admired teacher of Torah and Chassidus in neighborhood Shtieblach

The doctors gave him a 2% chance, and Boruch Hashem, he beat the odds to survive. After Thursday’s 8-hour surgery, Arele will בעזה"י beat the challenges ahead.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR GIVING HIM NEW LIMBS!
NOW, LET'S PUT HIM ON HIS FEET WITH THE TREATMENT, THERAPY, REHAB AND EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH HIS NEW LIFE, INCLUDING RETROFITTING HIS HOME TO BE MOBILITY-FRIENDLY.

Please continue to giving and share the link, and please, please…
Continue to daven for אהרן בן חנה. Your Tefillos work!
DONATE NOW!!
https://www.charidy.com/ao/yyj or 
Call 9292540081

Rabbi Mizrahi – A War Against All The Yeshiva's Of The World: Israel, Belgium, UK, NY



At the 2 hour mark he finally begins talking about the “War Against Yeshivas…” and much much more about the dangers to Jews around the world. When Hashem is finished with us that is what happens. I can see the signs (corruption plus) now.

The Rabbi says he may cut back on publishing his shiurim. If you like listening to him and gain insight and it strengthens your Emuna and Bitachon, PLEASE write/comment at the bottom of this shiur and let him know that you wait weekly to listen to him.

The Rabbi must hear from his audience that cannot appear in person and depends on his lectures on you tube.

27 February 2019

A Lesson for Rabbi Benny Lau from "A Divine Madness"

Prominent rabbi likens vote for Otzma Yehudit to backing Nuremberg Laws. “I suggest the public review the comparison [Likud] MK Michael Eitan made in the 1980s between the Nuremberg Laws and those that Kahane sought to enact,”  timesofIsrael

RABBI BENNY LAU REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE FOR COMPARING OTZMA'S VIEWS TO NAZISM: JPOST

In response to Rabbi “Benny” Lau’s suggestion, herewith is a “Public Review of said comparison”:

Poor Rabbi ‘Benny' Lau, his leftist thinking has led him into a quagmire. He links the Torah’s declarations (of Mount Sinai, the Mitzvos of Hashem / Halachos) as espoused by a certain political party, with the Decrees of the Nazi Era German WWII Laws of Nurenberg. His quagmire is that He does not realize that he is actually bringing to the fore that party’s aspirations of instituting those Mitzvos that are encumbent on ALL JEWS to the social fabric of Eretz Yisrael.

What he does not understand about the Shoah, and the Divine Madness Decree, is that the Mitzvos that are needed to be observed in Eretz Yisrael are the positive application of the decrees issued upon the Jews in Germany.
________________________
Some background:

Everything that happens to the Jews is from Shamayim (from Hashem). The following are excerpts from A Divine Madness, Rabbi Avigdor Miller’s Defense of Hashem in the Matter of the Holocaust (Simchas HaChaim Foundation 2013). To these I affix footnotes, containing my commentary.

It is an error to consider the history of Israel in the aspect of the events of the nations among which Israel sojourns. The writers have spoken of the effects of World War I and of World War II upon the Jews. However we must realise that these great upheavals were caused by Hashem solely because of Israel. Whatever transpired to the nations was but the secondary effect of the primary purpose of these wars: to shape the history of the Jewish People. (Divine Madness, p 115)

Belief in Hashem’s conduct of history demands of us to study His deeds and to attempt to fathom their causes and purposes. “He who chastises nations, is He not [thereby] correcting [or rebuking]: Is He not teaching men knowledge?” (Tehilim 94:10) Especially when almost half of His people were destroyed, could a believer deceive himself into thinking that Hashem would act without obvious reason?” (Divine Madness pp125-126)

Testimony of the Chofetz Chaim (From Letters of the Chofetz Chaim, pgs 11-12):

“Now that the generations have unfortunately become weaker in their faith, and in many places there is  no cheder school, and many children are in treifah schools such as those of the Yiddishists and of Tarbuth that are full of apikorsus, and the child that attends there does not even know that there is a G-d in the world; Who created the Universe and Who chose us to be His people and Who came down upon Mount Sinai to give us a Torah and mitzvos … and in their school books they have omitted all of the miracles of the Torah … The children know nothing of this and they are reared without Torah and without belief.”   (Divine Madness pp127-128) 1/

The warnings from Heaven in the form of the terrible World War I went ignored. (Divine Madness p 151)

Germany had for 150 years been the most disciplined and civilised of nations. The transformation of a nation of law and order into a nation of thugs and murderers is one of the strangest events in the history of mankind. It was indeed a manifestation of the Hand of G-d.
The German Jew, down to Mendelssohn’s time, admired and loved his religion and his people, and therefore he needed for no prominence among the gentiles. The catch-words of “culture” and “progress” could not lure him after false gods… [the jews  passed the test of isolation in the ghettos and test of the Church
It was the influence of Moshe (Moses) Mendelssohn’s disciples that broke down the dykes and let in the waters of the fouled swamp that flooded the Jewish island…the Jews were taught by Mendelssohn’s disciples that the gentile possessed wisdom and virtue, and the Jew began to feel inferior. Now began the mad race to cast away the despised Judaism and to adopt the admired ways of the gentiles. Mendelssohn’s own daughters forsook Judaism, and all his grandchildren were meshumfdim. Soon half of Berlin Jewry would be baptised.  The era of “Light,” so greatly admired by the Graetz school of historians, now began… Now began the great test of the “Enlightenment”.  Hashem’s plan required that Israel be subjected to the test of the so-called Enlightenment and of Emancipation. (pp 37-38)… 
When liberty opened for German Jews the gates to education, wealth, and prestige, many became so intoxicated that they hastened into assimilation. Many accepted outright baptism, and others traveled toward the same objective by the roundabout route of Reform. The Reformers sought some justification for their new religion, which, like the Christians, they claimed to find in the ideals of the nevi'im  who spoke of “social justice” 2/ and righteousness. A comfortable period of transition was provided by the convenient religion that required only some noble-sounding phrases, and thus the wealthy could, without pangs of conscience, prepare the way for themselves or their children to complete assimilation. (pp 59-60)… 
Their Reform “temples” … empty words … Not only did they ignore the prophetic exhortation to keep the Sabbath (Yeshayahu 56:6; Yirmiyahu 17:21-27; Yechezkel 20:13 and 20, and 22:7) and to refrain from forbidden food (Yeshayahu 66:17), but the entire ideology of Reform was built on the most radical theories of Biblical criticism and their concept of Deity was so impersonal and diluted that it was tantamount to outright atheism [ceremonies copied from Lutherans] … their denial of the Giving of the Torah at Sinai … (pp 61-63) [me: the aggressiveness of the Reformers 3/ is dealt with in the many chapters of Divine Madness, for one and all to read. I cannot write it all here. Very sad indeed. And they continued their wrecking of authentic Judaism through WW1 and up to WW11]
[…] On January 30, 1933 the Nazi (National Socialist German Workers) Party seized power in Germany and began to issue decrees against the Jews.

The headlong race of German Jews into assimilation was now brought to a violent halt. […] Many Jews had already left the country, … Despite the collapse of the dream of German assimilation, most of the emigrants came to the free countries 4/ to renew the assimilation dream in their new habitats.

[Among the German Decrees were]
  • Jews were entirely excluded from all German schools….
  • They were allowed to dwell only in all-Jewish houses…
  • Every Jew was required to carry a special identification card, and his passport and ration card bore the word “Jew.”
  • Every man and woman was required to adopt a Jewish first name (unless he had one)
  • Every Jew over 5 wore a six pointed star inscribed with the word “Jude.”
The deportation of Jews to the killing centers was carried out with ehe cooperation of the Jewish community organisations, under the Reform preacher Leo Baeck …it could have served as a lesson that the Reformers were the cause of the destruction of Germany Jewry.
  • Prohibition of relations with Aryan women 
  • Using exclusively German names
From Germany, the home of the Reform, which annihilated the souls of millions of Jews, came the physical destruction of millions of Jews (Divine Madness pp 161-166)

The thinking Jews could not fail to see the Hand of G-d. There was no reason for this madness of the hatred against the Jews. In the days of old, Israel recognised the plan of Hashem that aimed to stimulate repentance, and “In You our fathers trusted; they trusted in You and You rescued them…To You they cried out and were saved, in You they trusted and were not put to shame” (Tehillim 22:5-6) (Divine Madness p 182)
The decrees of Nazi Germany6/ were aimed at separating Jews from gentiles in every possible manner. There would be no social contact; no business contact; no contact in schools, housing, travel, shopping. There would be no personal identity (insistence on Jewish names: a remarkable sign from Heaven against the use of gentile names).The badge on Jewish garments and similar decrees had the same purpose.”
The commandments of the Torah (and Sages) aim at 5/ separation. “I separated you from the nations” (Vayikra 20:26). “You shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy Nation” (Shemos 20:6). “Behold a people that dwells alone” (Bamidbar 23:9).

Quagmire: "an awkward, complex, or hazardous situation"
1. “the children know nothing” – And today in the secular schools in Israel, the children are not taught about G-d, receiving the Torah at Sinai, the Mitzvos, and what it means to be a proud Jew.
2. Social Justice – The leftist socialists of Israel defend Palestinian murderers as social justice.
3. Today, the Reformers are still aggressive, wanting a part of our Kotel, recognition of the State of Israel, urging women to wear the traditional men’s Tallis, Tefillin, and Torah Reading in a religious context, all of their non-Jewish ideologies being imposed on the unknowing (uneducated) Israelis.
4. Immigrating to America, they set up their Reform ways and influenced the innocents (uneducated in authentic Judaism) that followed them to the shores of safety after the war.
5.- 6. Separation. The Decrees were aimed at separation (from the Germans/non-Jews).


_________________________________

More Commentary:

Poor Rabbi “Benny” Lau, does not understand WHY the Shoah was visited upon the Jewish Nation; it is too much for him to believe that the Decrees of the Socialist Nazis were davka to impress on the Jewish world that Jews need to return to their Judaism and their G-d. What the followers of Rabbi Kahane want is to bring the Israelis back to Judaism and G-d. What they stand for, their principles, are the same as what the Torah asks of each and every Jew, and the same as what those Decrees were meant to teach.

The Nuremberg laws are many Nazi Nuremberg Laws

On The Elections . . . First Thoughts

About the elections by Shalom Pollack

I thought a lot before writing this post because I did not know where to start.

I am sure that this will not be my only writing about the upcoming elections and that there will be more drama before the polls close in less than two months but I would like to share some current thoughts as an "opening shot".

The dust finally settled upon the process of political party mergers and the newest labels and personalities to take the stage

I doubt we will know what many of the actors really believe about major issues as I assume that they do not know themselves. The main thing is that they are in the ring and someone is watching.

Two big stories riveted us until today. One was the creation of a new party led by former chief of staff Benny Ganz ( he declared that he would rather endanger his soldiers than hurt enemy civilians). He called his party, "Hosen Israel". He now belongs to a newer party called "Blue and white" which merged with Yesh Atid" led by Yair Lapid.

As long as I can remember, every election cycle has seen the creation of a new "Centrist" political party that would challenge the traditional Right/Left competition and lead the pack. These parties are always led by relatively popular personalities from without the political world. Generals are the usual candidates.

Until today most have been a one-term phenomenon. Their place is usually taken by another "great hope" in the next round. These generals turned politicians usually contribute nothing remarkable.

Often they do real damage.

If in the past these cameo appearances were meant to challenge the establishment and bring clean politics to the field, lately it is all and only about unseating Netanyahu. They have become the "never Bibi parties". They will never call themselves Left, though most clearly are. Since the Oslo and Expulsion debacles, the word Left is one that most politicians won't touch. Israelis have very bitter memories of their promises and cliches. One never hears the phrases, "land for peace, the peace process, peace partner". These mantras have cost too much blood and many Israelis have woken up. We are witnessing the rapid shrinking of the Left parties. The Labor party of Ben Gurion, Dayan, Peres, and Rabin is no longer a player on the stage. It is dying. This is a truly historical phenomenon; as much as the rise of the Likud and Begin for the first time in 1977.

No one knows remotely what this new political party's policies are. They are carefully keeping their mouths shut. Suffice it that they attract enough Bibi haters to energize their supporters.

I am no fan of Bibi. I can list many unforgivable sins that he has committed starting with his vote in favor of the Expulsions of 2005, pro-Palestinian state, releasing thousands of terrorists - to kill again. Giving away Hevron and more. The list is long.

He has chosen Left parties as his coalition partners ( such as Barak and then Livni) rather than those which his voters wanted - the smaller Right parties. He did this to have someone to blame when he broke his word to his voters. There is a very good chance he will do it again this time. He cannot be trusted.

I would hope that he is prevented from office due to his current legal problems and have someone take his place who hopefully has more of a backbone.

The other story that had us riveted was the merger of the "Jewish power" party of the students of Rabbi Meir Kahane of blessed memory with the" Jewish home" party. This was a merger of political convenience. They needed each other to reach enough votes to win seats in the Knesset. With the union, the polls are showing a gradual rise.

During the negotiations, the "Kahane" party was treated by the establishment with scorn and hate not used for our worst enemies today. They are to be untouchables. We are told that "American Jewry " is also disgusted with the Kahane followers. Are they the same 80% that supported the great friend of Israel - Obama? Yes, they really care.

I know the men running in this party and I know that their number one concern, 24/7 is Am Yisrael. Their deeds prove it. I am familiar with them.

Just as their teacher and rabbi were treated by the media and establishment so were (are) they. They, like the rabbi, are hated by the establishment but loved by far more Israelis than the media would have you think.

Why do the media and establishment hate these guys so?

Why does the name Kahane clearly send them into contortions?

They don't foam at the mouth when the name Arafat is mentioned. Heck, they wined and dined him, including Bibi...Why?

This is an excellent question for psychologists and such to ponder.
Interesting is all I can say.

We do what we can.
In the end, it's up to Him.

"The hearts of kings are in the Hand of God" (Proverbs)

Shalom Pollock

26 February 2019

Beresheet

A Beautiful Video




Halevai

Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft, an unmanned vehicle slated to land on the moon, missed a scheduled maneuver Monday night, after the spacecraft’s computer system suffered an apparent glitch, resetting itself unexpectedly.

In a statement Tuesday morning, SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) engineers said they were investigating the malfunction, but said that other than a known problem with the navigation system’s star tracker, the Beresheet’s systems were all functioning properly.

The maneuver was scheduled to take place Monday night, as the spacecraft passed near the Earth in an area where the Ramat Gan-based SpaceIL ground crew would not be in direct communication with the craft.

During the pre-maneuver phase, the spacecraft computer reset unexpectedly, and the maneuver was automatically cancelled.

“The engineering teams of SpaceIL and IAI are examining the data and analyzing the situation,” the control team said in a statement Tuesday.

“At this time, the spacecraft’s systems are working well, except for the known problem in the star tracker.”

arutzsheva

25 February 2019

Rabbi Kessin on PURIM – REDEMPTION – MESSIANIC PESUKIM

Purim, Amalek and the Modern Era

Fascinating Shiur - Turn up your volume ALL THE WAY to hear the Rabbi



Truly Fascinating, listen to the end:
He begins with the “Reasonableness” of the Purim Play strategy;
then he goes into a scenario of beliefs contra Hashem (looking for the exit);
Analogy of Amalek;
and then the Modern Day Amalek;
and then Antisemitism and why the world hates the Jews.

Pere Adam / ADAM / Edom

Then he ends with some outstanding comments about Israel – Rising among the Nations
Awaiting the “spiritual” redemption
Listen to the 3 aspects (3 messianic pesukim) of REDEMPTION
Hang in to the end, always the most enlightening!
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

[And now Israel is establishing a “settlement” on the Moon :-) ]

Meir Ettinger – Who Will Protect Eretz Yisrael?

Meir Ettinger
Who Will Protect Eretz Yisrael?

Those who embraced the soldiers in Gush Katif and called on his students not to refuse an order - effectively qualifying the expulsion of the Jews of the Gaza Strip, bears responsibility for the consequences of the disengagement

I do not usually write about politics, and do not attribute unnecessary importance to what was done in the Knesset elections. Despite this, this time I want to write about a certain point because, although it has a political touch, it is mainly ideological, and it seems that we have to prepare for it, God forbid, perhaps we will need it one day.

Every day when I left school in eighth grade I would see the inscription sprayed with paint spray paint on the wall: "Where did Effie Eitam go?" I mean, I did not know who sprayed the same address, but I remembered it this week when he was elected Head of the new Jewish home.

There is a reasonable probability that after the current elections we will have to embark on another struggle for the integrity of the land, the integrity of the land which is also the integrity of the people, because the people and the land are one. No one knows exactly what Netanyahu and Trump are planning on what is called the "100th deal," but it can already be understood that we are facing a difficult experience. Even if no settlement is evacuated within the framework of that deal, and even if, on the contrary, hundreds of housing units are approved in the settlements, they want to tear the land of Israel apart and hand it over to other nations.

If this happens, God will have to deal with the same leadership in the same struggle as the leadership that crushed that struggle, the leadership that what is important to her is to be 'beautiful' and incapable of placing the Torah above the laws of the state.

Those who hugged the soldiers in Gush Katif and called upon his students not to refuse orders - and in effect effectively prepared the expulsion of the Jews of the Gaza Strip - bear the responsibility for the consequences of the disengagement no less than its perpetrators. And endangers the inhabitants of the Land of Israel.

And all this why? Anyone who chose to turn the struggle against the disengagement into a matter of 'values', for the matter of 'spirit', in which one has to choose some more 'value' again - the people of Israel or the Land of Israel, as if it is possible to separate them. Belongs precisely to the blindness of those who led the disengagement, let alone predicting the consequences of the disengagement, and nevertheless chose to endanger the lives of Jews in the name of ideas and ideas.

Those who do not believe seriously the words of the Torah that warned that if we do not exclude the inhabitants of the land, we will not consider the disengagement as a real life-saving, and the desecration of Gd - how can we rely on such a person to bear security responsibility or preserve the Land of Israel?

When Saul was reprimanded by Samuel after he did not properly fulfill the commandment to wipe out Amalek, Samuel told him two verses whose content was seemingly the opposite. On the one hand, he says to him, "If you are a tyrant, you are the head of the thousands of Israel." In this verse he criticizes improper humility Knowledge and obsequiousness. And immediately in the next verse, "He who hears the altar of good, listen from the milk of the rams" - seemingly opposite criticism, for having considered his opinion instead of listening to God.

To teach you that these two mistakes go together - excess pride leads to wrong humility, and submission where undesirable leads to ego battles. When there is humility in the place of desecration of the Lord and the saving of the soul instead of saying the opinion of the Torah in a decisive manner, as the Rambam states: "If the king says to cancel a mitzvah, we do not listen to him."

On the other hand, the desired leadership is the leadership of Adino Haetzni, the leadership of King David - a concession in everything connected with the personal issue, and uncompromising insistence on everything related to the Torah. Only such leadership can preserve the Land of Israel.

Meir Ettinger – מי ישמור על ארץ ישראל?

מי ישמור על ארץ ישראל?

מי שהתחבק עם החיילים בגוש קטיף, וקרא לתלמידיו לא לסרב פקודה – ובכך למעשה הכשיר את גירוש יהודי חבל עזה, נושא באחריות לתוצאותיה של ההתנתקות

אני לא כותב בדרך כלל על פוליטיקה, ולא מייחס למה שנעשה בבחירות בכנסת חשיבות מיותרת. למרות זאת הפעם רוצה לכתוב על נקודה מסוימת מכיוון שלמרות שיש לה נגיעה פוליטית היא בעיקר רעיונית, ונראה שצריך להתכונן אליה כי חלילה וחס אולי נזדקק לה בבוא היום.
בכל יום כאשר הייתי יוצא מבית הספר בכיתה ח' הייתי רואה את הכתובת שהייתה מרוססת בספריי צבע על הקיר: "לאן נעלם אפי איתם?" הכוונה הייתה למנהיג המפד"ל שהמשיך לשבת בממשלת שרון באתה שנה גם כאשר הצבא הכין את חייליו מנטלית לגירוש היהודים מחבל עזה, ונזכר לעזוב רק לאחר שתוכנית ההתנתקות הייתה בלתי הפיכה. אני לא יודע מי ריסס את אותה הכתובת, אבל נזכרתי בה השבוע כאשר נבחר יו"ר הבית היהודי החדש.
ישנה סבירות לא נמוכה שאחרי הבחירות הנוכחיות נצטרך לצאת למאבק נוסף על שלמות הארץ, שלמות הארץ שהיא גם שלמות העם, כי העם והארץ אחד הם. איש לא יודע בדיוק מה מתכננים נתניהו וטראמפ במה שמכונה "עסקת המאה", אבל ניתן כבר להבין שאנחנו עומדים בפני ניסיון לא פשוט. גם אם לא יפנו אף יישוב במסגרת אותה עסקה, וגם אם אפילו להפך לפתע יאושרו מאות יחידות דיור ביישובים, רוצים לקרוע את ארץ ישראל לגזרים ולמסור אותה ליד זולתנו מן האומות, והפעם זה יבוא דווקא מ"מחנה הימין".
אם הדבר יקרה ח"ו, נאלץ להתמודד במאבק הזה עם הנהגה זהה לאותה הנהגה שסירסה את המאבק ההוא, להנהגה שמה שחשוב בעיניה הוא להיות 'יפה', ושאינה מסוגלת להעמיד את התורה מעל חוקי המדינה.
מי שהתחבק עם החיילים בגוש קטיף, וקרא לתלמידיו לא לסרב פקודה – ובכך למעשה הכשיר את גירוש יהודי חבל עזה, נושא באחריות לתוצאותיה של ההתנתקות לא פחות מאשר מבצעיה, הוא נושא באחריות לטילים שנורים על אשקלון ובאר שבע, לטרור הבלונים והעפיפונים, ולמדינת הטרור בעזה שמאיימת ומסכנת את יושבי ארץ ישראל.
וכל זה למה? כי מי שלא הבין אז שמדובר בפיקוח נפש, מי שבחר להפוך את המאבק נגד ההתנתקות לעניין 'ערכי', לעניין של 'רוח', שבו צריך לבחור איזה 'ערך' יותר שוב – עם ישראל או ארץ ישראל, כאילו בכלל אפשר להפריד ביניהם. שייך בדיוק לאותו עיוורון של אלו שהובילו את ההתנתקות, קל וחומר אם הוא צפה את תוצאותיה של ההתנתקות ולמרות זאת בחר לסכן חיי יהודים בשם רעיונות והגיגים.
מי שלא מאמין ברצינות לדברי התורה שהזהירו שאם לא נוריש את יושבי הארץ – יהיו אלו לשיכים בעינינו ולצנינים בצידנו, ולא התייחס להתנתקות כאל פיקוח נפש של ממש, וחילול ה' – איך אפשר לסמוך על אדם כזה שיישא באחריות ביטחונית או שישמור על ארץ ישראל?
כאשר שאול המלך ננזף על ידי שמואל לאחר שלא קיים כראוי את מצוות מחיית עמלק אומר לו שמואל שני פסוקים שתוכנם לכאורה הפוך: מצד אחד הוא אומר לו "אם קטון אתה בעיניך ראש אלפי ישראל אתה" – בפסוק זה הוא מעביר ביקורת על ענווה פסולה, קטנות דעת והתרפסות. ומיד בפסוק הבא "הלא שמוע מזבח טוב, להקשיב מחלב אילים" – ביקורת לכאורה הפוכה, על כך שהחשיב את דעתו במקום להקשיב לקב"ה.
ללמדך ששתי טעויות אלו הולכות יחד – עודף גאווה מוביל לענווה פסולה, והכנעה במקום שהיא לא רצויה מובילה לקרבות אגו. כאשר יש ענווה במקום של חילול ה' ופיקוח נפש במקום להגיד את דעת התורה בצורה נחרצת כמו שפוסק הרמב"ם: "אם אמר המלך לבטל מצווה – אין שומעין לו", יש גם גאווה אישית ומגזרית.
לעומת זה הנהגה רצויה היא הנהגה של "עדינו העצני" ההנהגה של דוד המלך – וויתור בכל מה שקשור לעניין האישי, ותקיפות בלתי מתפשרת בכל מה שקשור לדברי תורה – רק הנהגה כזאת תוכל לשמור על ארץ ישראל.

24 February 2019

10 Molotov (bombs) Attack Bus Full Of Jews Near the Kotel

*[Terrorists threw]10 Molotov Cocktails [to] Attack Tourist Bus in Jerusalem
By David Israel JewishPress

screenshot

Jerusalem City Councilman Aryeh King, who is well-known for his work to reclaim eastern Jerusalem for Jews, on Thursday night reported that “a serious attack was carried out in the heart of our holy capital, Jerusalem, about 400 yards from the Western Wall.”

According to (Councilman) King, it was “a severe terror attack by a number of terrorists on a transport vehicle full of Jewish passengers. About 10 Molotov cocktails turned the car into a dangerous fire trap, which only by a miracle did not end up costing lives.”

“Damned terrorists tried to murder families while they were driving to a house in the village of Shiloach,” King reported. “A well-planned ambush by a number of terrorists, during which 10 Molotov cocktails were thrown at a bus with passengers, which almost became a death trap.”




*editorializing by blog owner


292 Terror Attack’s in 2019 — 33 THIS WEEK

There have been 33 terror attacks this week – 292 since the beginning of 2019.


Last Thursday, three Arabs entered the Kumi Ori neighborhood of Yizhar and approached very close to a house while its female resident was alone inside. She managed to summon the local security force, who, with the help of other residents, drove the Arabs back to their village. A riot began in the village and the IDF carried out riot control.

Friday afternoon, an Arab crowd rioted in the village of Urif and attacked IDF soldiers.

On Saturday night, a bus was stoned near the village of Hizma and the driver was lightly injured and required medical treatment.

On Sunday, Arabs threw stones at Jewish vehicles in a number of locations.

On Monday, during an Arab riot in the Gaza Strip, IDF soldiers were attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails.

In the course of the disturbances, IEDs and grenades were thrown at IDF forces and moderately injured a soldier who was evacuated for medical treatment.

On Monday afternoon, Arabs threw an explosive device at a military force in the village of Anabta in Samaria.

On Tuesday, an IDF soldier was wounded in the village of Nahalin after Arabs had attacked a force operating in the area, and earlier on, Arabs from Nakhlin set a tire on fire on the security fence of Beitar Ilit.

Throughout Tuesday evening, thousands of Arabs rioted on the Gaza border. Hundreds of Arabs also rioted and attacked police on the Temple Mount after they had uprooted a gate.

On the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, IDF forces operated in the village of Al ‘Arub. During the operation, the forces were attacked and a soldier was wounded.

In the city of Shechem, soldiers accompanied thousands of Jewish worshipers who came to Joseph’s Tomb. The soldiers were attacked by an Arab mob.

Arabs threw five Molotov cocktails at an IDF force guarding the northern entrance to Efrat.

(Source: Hakol Hayehudi)

23 February 2019

Parshas Ki Tisa – A Second Chance

A SECOND CHANCE
by Roy Neuberger

I would like to bring you up to date on a few things.

First, I received quite a few inquiries concerning the lost cufflinks about which I wrote several weeks ago. Thank you for your concern. My wife found them!

Second, another lost item: a Jewish soul! I described in the column on December 28 how a young mother was dramatically rescued from her overturned car in the middle of the night in a torrential storm on a small road in Israel. This is actually our own grand-daughter, Tehilla, who lives with her family near Ashkelon. I stated that a young couple pulled her out, but I later found out that, in fact, three vehicles arrived and their occupants stopped to rescue her.

The first was driven by a young man from Bnai Brak. He himself was apparently off the derech[1] (meaning that he had strayed off the path of Torah), but, actually, as we will see, he found the derech that night! The second was driven by a medic for Magen Dovid Adam, and the third was a van full of yeshiva boys from Sderot. They all stopped and – with great difficulty – got her out of the car, called police and ambulance. In short, they saved her life.

A few weeks ago, our family made a Seudas Hoda’ah[2] in Yerushalayim. We invited all these brave rescuers. The only one able to attend was the first young man, whose name, appropriately, is “Chai.”[3] He had one of those piled-up haircuts, with no yarmulka. Before the meal, we davened maariv[4]. Chai came running after us and asked to borrow a yarmulka. When it came to bentching[5], he put a napkin on his head (until someone stuck a hat on him).

Chai felt like one of the family. The next day, he wrote to Tehilla: “I have finally found a mishpacha[6]!” He is coming to them for Shabbos, and … this just in: Chai himself was in a serious accident last week! Miraculously, he survived.

I said above that Chai was “off the derech,” but in fact, on Route 3, he found the derech! And that is how it is: when we do acts of kindness we heal the entire world, including ourselves.

This week’s Torah Portion tells the story of the aigel[7], the smashing of the luchos[8] and the carving of a second set. This, my friends, is the story of life. We are all weak and vulnerable. It is easy to veer off the derech. The pressures are enormous and the world is filled with danger.

When the Tablets are smashed, it could have been “all over.” But it wasn’t all over. “Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Carve for yourself two stone Tablets like the first ones, and I shall inscribe on the Tablets the words that were on the first Tablets.” (Exodus 34:1)

This means that we now have to work! We have to carve out new Tablets, and that is not easy. But we will do it if we understand that our lives depend on it. And Hashem will write on those Tablets. He says to Moshe, “Be prepared in the morning…. Stand by Me.” (Exodus 34:2)

Morning is coming. If we stand by Hashem, we will see the Sunrise.

[1] “Derech” literally means “road”
[2] A “Seudas Hoda’ah” is a meal for the purpose of expressing thanks to G-d for a miracle.
[3] “Chai” means “life.”
[4] The evening prayer
[5] Blessing after the meal
[6] “Family”
[7] The Golden Calf
[8] The Two Tablets Hashem gave to Moses


Morning Star at daybreak

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

© Copyright 2019 by Roy S. Neuberger

22 February 2019

Rabbi Winston – Parashas Ki Sisa

“And you, speak to the Children of Israel and say: ‘Only keep My Shabbosos! For it is a sign between Me and you for your generations, to know that I, God, make you holy.’” (Shemos 31:13) 

SHABBOS POPS UP a few times in the Torah, including in this week’s parsha. As Rashi explains, the halachah of Shabbos is juxtaposed with the building of the Mishkan, to teach that its construction does not override the laws of Shabbos. On Shabbos, all work on the Mishkan ceased.
Following the discussion about Shabbos begins the episode of the golden calf, the latter seemingly having nothing to do with the former. But, that is usually not the case in the Torah, and in this case, not likely, given the opinion that the Mishkan was God’s response to the golden calf. 
This is the link:

“And you, speak to the Children of Israel and say: ‘Only keep My Shabbosos! For it is a sign between Me and you for your generations, to know that I, God, make you holy.’” (Shemos 31:13)

For it is a sign between Me and you: It is a sign of distinction between us that I have chosen you, by granting you as an inheritance My day of rest for [your] rest … to know: [So that] the nations [should know] that I, God, sanctify you. (Rashi)

Why have we been commanded to observe Shabbos? The usual answer is, to remind us the God is Boss, and that all we accomplish the other six days of the week is because of His blessing. Shabbos reminds us that we owe EVERYTHING to Him.
The Torah’s answer in this week’s parsha is a little different. We keep Shabbos to make a statement to the rest of the world, that our holiness as a people is only because of God. We do not sanctify ourselves, but we are sanctified because God makes us holy. 
And how does God do this? Through Shabbos itself. The truth is, God does this through ALL the mitzvos, but Shabbos is a SUPER mitzvah. This is why the Talmud says that when a person properly keeps Shabbos, it’s as if they have fulfilled the ENTIRE Torah. Shabbos “synergizes” what what all the OTHER mitzvos accomplish only in part. 
On the outside, to someone who does not understand what mitzvos actually do, even if they already observe them, it seems like just a matter of doing what we are told. But Shabbos and mitzvos are about a lot more than this, and knowing what that “more” is means being able to access its potential advantage in life. 
A very basic analogy is like a person who is well connected to the President of a country. He may not work in a government office, and on the street, look just like everyone else around him. But there is one thing that makes him extremely unique and more powerful from the average person. It’s the phone in his pocket that connects him directly to the President, anywhere he goes and at any time. 
If this person gets in trouble, he has to make but one call, and his protection comes immediately. If he goes out to dinner and the restaurant is over-crowded, he just uses his phone, makes the call, and gets seated immediately. His phone is a portal to power, available for use at his bidding. 
Is it the phone that makes this person powerful? No. It is his relationship with the leader of the country. The phone is merely a portal to access that relationship, and to benefit from it. Without his close connection to the President of his country, his phone is just another communication device of the masses. 
What makes the mitzvos so powerful is the way they connect the person who performs them to God. Every time a person does a mitzvah the RIGHT way (as a mitzvah and halachically correct), a portal for Divine light and holiness opens up between God and the person. Automatically, a person’s level of kedushah—holiness—increases.
Shabbos is God’s once-a-week open door policy. You just have to come dressed for the occasion, physically AND spiritually. For the person who prepares for Shabbos, physically, emotionally, the door swings wide open and the holiness free flows from God to the person on the other side of it. To the extent to which the person is “there” for Shabbos, that is the extent to which they will be the recipient of unbelievable holiness and spiritual growth.
There’s no faking it, or duplicating it. Man has tried, but the eventual result has been pogroms, crusades, and suicide attacks. Life has many “doors,” but few lead to a holy destination if not prescribed by the Torah.
The golden calf made this point the strongest. The Erev Rav didn’t push atheism or agnosticism on the Jewish people. They pushed an alternative approach to religion on them, claiming that THESE were the gods that took them out of Egypt. They were claiming that holiness can also be manmade, and more advantageous when it is. 

The halachos of Shabbos follow the laws of the Mishkan, as Rashi explains, to emphasize that they do not get pushed off for the construction of the Mishkan. But, they precede the incident of the golden calf to tell us that kedushah can only come from God, and the way He says. Any other attempt is at best a forgery and, at worst, a golden calf. 

21 February 2019

“Beresheet” in Parshas Ki Tisa (The Golden Calf)


This week we have the Israeli Election Parties Deadline for formation of said parties, and we have the SpaceX Launch of Israeli Lunar Lander. How auspicious the timing of these events.

Parasha Ki Tisa - Golden Calf




–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Parties must finalize and submit their slates to the Central Elections Committee by Thursday at 10PM timesofisrael

To the Moon! SpaceX to Launch Israeli Lunar Lander (and More) on Thursday Space.com
[link to video –– https://www.space.com/spacex-to-launch-israeli-moon-lander.html?jwsource=cl]

An artist's depiction of the Beresheet lander on the moon's surface

The lander, called "Beresheet" (in the beginning), will launch at 8:45 p.m. EST (0145 GMT, Feb. 22) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. You can watch the launch live on Space.com courtesy of SpaceX or directly through SpaceX's webcast page or on Facebook via the lander's creators.

Hungarian FM: Soros is the Problem [an expert defining of Liberalism in action]

[I’m posting this because the Hungarian FM describes a situation that he explains clearly and succinctly about what Liberalism is doing in Europe (also America). His thinking is remarkable and worthy of reading {and because of the linkage between Soros’s ‘vision’ and that of Lapid and Zandberg coalesce,) foretelling a danger for Israel.]

The Fight About Liberalism

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the issue the Hungarian government has is with the views held by George Soros.

The Hungarian government has a problem with Hungarian-born American financier George Soros’s "vision for Hungary and Europe", not with his Jewish religion, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

“When we have a debate with George Soros, it has nothing to do with his religion,” Szijjarto said. “We don’t care about his religion. We care about his visions – and he has totally different visions about the future of Europe and the future of Hungary than we do.”

When Soros “went open with his debate” with the Hungarian government, “we had to react,” Szijjarto asserted.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been accused of using antisemitic imagery and themes in his campaign against Soros, an accusation Szijjarto adamantly denies.

“Yes, we are in open conflict [with Soros], but it has nothing to do with the religion of any of us, it has to do with that vision. And whoever includes religion in this debate is representing an antisemitic approach, because we don’t care about his religion,” he said.

The Hungarian foreign minister was in Israel Tuesday to attend a summit of the Visegrad Group – Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. When Poland backed out over Israeli comments regarding Polish complicity in the Holocaust and Polish antisemitism, the formal summit was canceled, but the prime ministers of the other three countries came and held a joint meeting as well as bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Hungarian government, Szijjarto said, “can be really proud of our track record when it comes to the fight against antisemitism. We have announced a policy of zero tolerance against antisemitism. And in Hungary we are really proud of the fact that the biggest Jewish community in Central Europe lives in Hungary... if you will come to Budapest, you will see the vivid cultural life, you will see there is no need for guards with weapons standing around synagogues, or guards with weapons at Jewish cultural events.”

Who is Distorting the Holocaust

Regarding the disagreement with Israel about the narrative that will be presented at a Holocaust museum in Budapest under construction – and concern in Israel that it will try to equate horrors of Nazism to those of Communism – Szijjarto said that the prime ministers of both countries have set up teams to address the issue.

“For us, it is important to address the issue properly, to the satisfaction of all stakeholders,” he said. “It is being addressed.”

The Hungarian foreign minister said his country was not trying to equate Nazism with Communism, a type of “Holocaust distortion” that some observers say is taking place in parts of Eastern Europe.

“No, they were not the same,” he said. “Nazism was Nazism, and Communism was Communism. Both of them are terrible, and both of them caused suffering for millions and tens of millions. We need to address them one by one.”

Coining a New Phrase


As to criticism from some in Israel, such as Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg, that Jerusalem should not be forging such close ties with “illiberal” democracies in Europe, Szijjarto took issue with the term “illiberal democracy.”

He quoted Orban as saying that

“there is a very unfair and biased approach in Europe in this regard, because if the liberals do not win an election, then it is the whole country that is considered nondemocratic. In this sense it is illiberal, because it is not the liberals who will govern.” 

Szijjarto termed it “unfair” that “when a conservative, Christian-Democratic, Center-Right party wins the elections, then all the liberal media jumps on it and says it is not a democracy, because the liberals did not win. But this is the decision of the people, and democracy is about respecting the decisions and the will of the people. And if the people voted in favor of us in two previous elections by a two-thirds majority, then this must be respected by everyone, even liberals.”

Source: JPost

__________________________________

ALSO READ:

Beware of Sanders/Gantz and the allures of the left. Two-state solution means your sons died for nothing. arutzsheva

Why is Glick interfereing?

UPTICK IN TERROR EXPECTED: INCITING MORE TERRORISM Hamas: "Protect Al-Aqsa in any way” arutzsheva

Likud: Gantz and Lapid will usher in ‘leftist’ government ‘backed by Arabs’ timesofisrael. [One should realize that TOI has a leftist socialist news agenda.[









19 February 2019

UPDATE: Rabbi Mizrachi on Science, the Stars, the Three Parts to the Talmud

*I am posting an apology about this post. First, it was coded via google/blogspot/videos as a “PARTIAL” Video which was supposed to begin in the last 1/4 of the video, this was where Rabbi Mizrahi beautifully scientifically describes what appears to most people, as a “falling star” and then goes on to explain more about our solar system and then about the three part to the Talmud. Very interesting. However, even though i still see the coding, it did not do what I coded. Instead it began from the beginning. So Sorry.

The original name of his video is 
The Evil Inclination Grows According to the Spiritual Growth




* Ive been out of the loop over 8-10 days and only now getting back to myself, so I thought to correct this matter.

LIBERMAN: WANT JEWISH CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN? MOVE TO ISRAEL

Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu Party, said on Tuesday that Jews who

“want their children and grandchildren to remain Jewish have only one choice: move to Israel as soon as possible.”

“A wave of antisemitism is sweeping the world and gaining momentum,” Liberman said in the statement. “Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar in the US Congress expresses support for the BDS movement and writes antisemitic tweets.”

Liberman’s comments came on Tuesday, almost 48 hours after Jewish and non-Jewish leaders across Israel and the US hastily responded to antisemitic comments by Omar, who tweeted that she believes AIPAC pays politicians to be pro-Israel.

The former defense minister said that Omar’s tweets are not isolated, but rather are part of a rising wave of antisemitic incidents around the world, and point to an increasing rate of assimilation.
“Neo-Nazi demonstrations with hundreds of participants take place in Budapest, Hungary, and the police don’t lift a finger,” he said. “Antisemitic slurs are hurled at Jews on the London Underground and on the Frankfurt high-speed train in Germany. In the heart of Paris, yellow paint was sprayed on a Jewish-owned restaurant and the word ‘Jude’ was written all over it.”

Specifically, he cited a 16% increase in antisemitic incidents in the UK and a 74% increase in France.

“Jews throughout the world and in Europe in particular, must draw conclusions from these antisemitic incidents,” Liberman said.


Minister: Anti-Semitism in France spreading like poison
arutzsheva
France's interior minister decries 'poison' of bigotry, notes 74% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in France in 2018 over previous year.
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in France surged in 2018, jumping a whopping 74% compared to the number in 2017, a senior French official said Monday night. France’s interior minister, Christophe Castaner, lamented Monday that anti-Jewish acts were becoming increasingly commonplace. “Anti-Semitism is spreading like poison,” Castaner said, warning that the surge of anti-Jewish acts constituted “an attack against hope.” The interior minister noted that the number of anti-Semitic acts reported in 2018 had jumped from 311 in 2017 to 541 – a 74% increase.

SWASTIKAS AND ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI FOUND IN PARIS FOR 2ND TIME IN 3 DAYS
JPost.com

JUDEN!’ SPRAY PAINTED IN YELLOW ON WINDOW OF PARIS BAGEL SHOP
Jpost.com

TWENTY SWASTIKAS DISCOVERED DEFACING MURAL AT SYDNEY'S FAMED BONDI BEACH
JPost.com

JEWISH CEMETERY DESECRATED IN MANCHESTER
JPost.com

U.S. CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: HITLER WAS 'FINE' IF HE HAD STAYED IN GERMANY
JPost.com


Neo-Nazi Budapest march reminiscent of dark days'
'Hate crimes, legislative attacks that are new anti-Semitism have spread, so is danger that anti-Semitism will turn into deadly terrorism.’

In the center of Budapest, Hungary, a mass march of inflamed neo-Nazis chanted anti-Semitic slogans using symbols and fascist posters. Despite protests and appeals by Jewish organizations around the world, the Hungarian authorities chose to ignore the traditional parade.

President of the Conference of Rabbis of Europe and rabbi of Moscow Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt responded by saying that the images of Budapest are unbearable and painful and remind us of the darkest chapters of the last century.the neo-Nazis attack Europe's freedom and values. "The indifference of the Hungarian authorities is shocking, and they must take into account the influence of such hate messages.” arutzsheva


Data of Labour anti-Semitism released
Jewish Labour MPs say party's admission of 673 complaints of anti-Semitism in the last 10 months 'incomplete,’

The storm of anti-Semitism in the British Labour Party is not subsiding, and the Jews in the party are furious. Party Secretary Jenny Formby said the party had received 673 complaints of anti-Semitic acts by its members in the past 10 months alone, revealing the figure after pressure from party MPs. According to her, 96 party members were suspended immediately from the party because of their behavior between April 2018 and January 2019, and 12 were expelled from the Labour ranks. arutzsheva






17 February 2019

New Right Party Veering a Hard Left plus Poland

According to Ayelet Shaked, the New Right would allow 500,000 = Half Million Arabs to become citizens of Israel.

Need we say any more?

The New Right is not the party for Torah true Jews or any other Jew!

Source:arutzsheva



Poland's PM cancels Israel trip following Holocaust Law spat
Can one get a terrorist to apologize?
Polish PM nixes appearance at Jerusalem summit as diplomatic tensions continue over Poland's Holocaust censorship law.

During his state visit to Poland last Thursday, Netanyahu said that some Poles had collaborated with the Nazis – publicly defying the law and drawing criticism from the Polish government.

“Poles collaborated with the Nazis,” said Netanyahu in Warsaw Thursday. “See, I’m saying it. It is a fact. And I don’t know a single person who was ever sued because of it.”

Last year, Poland passed the controversial law which took effect in March 2018.

Violators of the law could face up to three years in prison.

The law drew heavy criticism from the Israeli government, with the US State Department also expressing opposition to the bill. Polish opposition parties also criticized the law, and proposed to amend the bill.

Source: ArutzSheva

14 February 2019

Rabbi Winston Parshas Tetzaveh

You shall make holy garments for your brother Aharon, for honor and glory. (Shemos 28:2) 

AS RASHI EXPLAINED in last week’s parsha, the Aron was comprised of three boxes, one within each other. The outer most box was made of a thin layer of gold, as was the innermost one. These two boxes sandwiched a thicker, inner box made of wood, which certainly made it lighter and easier to carry.
Lightness was probably an important consideration, but there was also an important lesson being taught by this construction. Everything about the Mishkan was a lesson about life and how to live it, and this was especially true when it came to the Aron. 
Of the many lessons that the Aron taught, one was about who we are. The inner layer of gold represented the eternal soul. The outer layer of gold represented the need to project the reality of the INNER eternal soul on the OUTSIDE. Clothing to do not “make the man,” but they are a VERY good indicator of what kind of person is wearing them, projecting to the world how the wearer views himself.
The wood inside represented the body which, like wood, is transient and subject to decay. The very nature of the body should make a person humble, as Dovid HaMelech often reflected in Tehillim. This is what the rabbis emphasized here:

Akavia ben Mahalalel would say: “Reflect upon three things and you will not come to the hands of transgression. Know from where you came, where you are going, and before whom you are destined to give a judgment and accounting. From where you came—from a putrid drop; where you are going—to a place of dust, maggots and worms; and before whom you are destined to give a judgment and accounting—before the supreme King of Kings, The Holy One, Blessed is He.” (Pirkei Avos 4:1)

The world has it all wrong. Billions of dollars are spent each year on clothing for the body, not the soul. Of course all clothing goes over the body, and covers it. But much of the clothing, especially the kinds that people spend a lot of money on, is designed to focus people on bodies, not souls. Instead of having their “wood” sandwiched by two layers of “gold,” they are two layers of “wood” on top of their layer of “gold.”

This parsha makes this point. It’s talking about the kohanim, but the message applies to anyone seeking a meaningful life. It says:

You shall make holy garments for your brother Aharon, for honor and glory. (Shemos 28:2)

In everyday terms, this would simply mean make regal clothing, as befitting the spiritual leader of the Jewish nation. It had to be clothing that would impress upon him and the people that he held one of the highest and most important offices in the history of mankind. It had to be clothing that when worn, it helped the Kohen Gadol to never lose sight of his high ranking position. 
In more Kabbalistic terms, the verse refers to clothing that reflected the Kohen Gadol’s inner essence, his SOUL. There is nothing more honorable or glorious than the human soul, the essence of a person and their divine resemblance. The clothing a person wears is only honorable and glorious when it reflects this reality on the outside.

A similar concept is alluded to by the following verse:

All honor [awaits] the King's daughter who is within; her raiment is superior to settings of gold. (Tehillim 45:14)

All honor [awaits] the King’s daughter who is within, etc.: Those who deserve all honor, and they are the nation of the King who behaved with modesty, now their garments will be more esteemed than the settings of gold of the High Priests. (Rashi)

Modesty is not one of man’s fortes. God made mankind with an appealing appearance, and the ability to “appreciate” it. Consequently, people with limited spiritual awareness tend to cater to that appreciation, one way or another, and USUALLY at the cost of modesty. Countless billions of dollars are spent on an ongoing basis just to take advantage of all of this.

Modest behavior, whether we’re talking about clothing or mannerisms, is a reflection of the extent to which a person’s soul has a say in their direction in life. We all have ambitions, and some are so important to us that we feel as if we’re missing out on life if they’re not fulfilled. But the greatest ambition of all has to be, living a soul-led life. Though that may not fetch us the attention we crave in THIS world, it WILL get us the attention we will cherish in the NEXT one.
It’s a hard call, evident by how confusing it can be even for those who purportedly service their souls over their bodies. But one hard and honest look into a mirror can reveal the truth, if not an actual mirror, then at least a spiritual one. “When I look at myself and how I live,” we have to ask ourselves, “is it the honor and glory of my soul that I project, or that of my body?”


CONNECTING THE DOTS

As I have mentioned in the past, I am VERY fascinated by the brain. Aside from being one of the most remarkable creations in the universe, it is where “we” reside. So, to know your brain, in many respects, is to know yourself, and to me, there is little more exciting than self-knowledge.
Many people think that they have it, when in fact what they really have is just an inkling as to what they like or dislike. They don’t know much about what it is that makes them like or dislike what they do. They don’t think that it is that important to know that much about themselves. 
However, studies show that people with increased self-awareness not only know themselves better, but they tend to stick to their values even when pressured. Knowing themselves better, they also know better how important it is to them to be true to their beliefs, and that of course is VERY important from a Torah perspective.
The downside of increased self-awareness is self-consciousness. The former does not have to lead to the latter, but often does. Hence, self-aware people tend to be more nervous when performing publicly, and may avoid it altogether. 
The opposite is also true. Often the people who do not suffer from any performance anxiety, being totally not self-conscious, tend to lack in-depth self-awareness as well. Their downside is that though they can do a great job when having to perform in public, they tend to be unaware of other aspects of their behavior that ought to embarrass them, but doesn’t.
Which is the better way? Obviously a balance between the two, self-awareness without too much self-consciousness. But, if that’s not so likely, then I would choose great self-awareness, and suffer the effects of self-consciousness whenever they would come up. Public performances are not so frequent, and can even be avoided. But life cannot be, and self-awareness just lets you enjoy it a lot more.
Many good things in life are a double-edged sword. The gain can be great, but there can also be difficult moments. For example, relationships are wonderful, until you lose them. Some people never quite recover from some losses but, as they say, “tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
The same can be said about anticipating the Final Redemption. If you allow yourself to be aware of it, and to be sensitive to what may be leading to it, then life is more meaningful, more historic, more biblical. I find that VERY exciting and fascinating. It’s a rewarding way to live, especially in Eretz Yisroel. 
The downside, of course, is when things don’t pan out as hoped. It gets even worse when people say to you, “Nu, what happened to the redemption? Such and such didn’t lead to anything in the end! Who says that anything else will?” Sometimes you even hear YOURSELF asking the same question.
Nevertheless, it is what God prefers. The prophets said it, the Talmud says it, and Jewish history says it. We’re supposed to be redemption-oriented. We’re supposed to be super-aware that we’re in exile, so that we will live daily anticipating redemption. God does, so why shouldn’t we? Besides, the benefits of being this way greatly outweigh the negatives. And, not just in THIS world, but in the NEXT for sure.



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