A Night to Remember

A Night to Remember

On the Essence of Rosh Hashanah

Rabbi YY Jacobson

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“Coronation Night” – that is how one of the great spiritual masters would define the night of Rosh Hashanah.

In a 1974 sermon, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soleveitchik (1903-1993), one of the great Jewish thinkers of the last century, related that when he was a young child learning in cheder (Jewish day school), in the Russian village of Chaslavitch, in the days preceding Rosh Hashanah, he could recognize in his teacher an extraordinary sense of trepidation.

“Our teacher, who was a Chabad Chassid (disciple), said to us: ‘Do you know what Rosh Hashanah is? The Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek would call the night of Rosh Hashanah – ‘Karanatzia Nacht’ (‘Coronation Night’).

“Do you know whom we will be coronating?” the teacher asked the children.

The young Soleveitchik prodigy responded in jest: “Nicholas”. (This was a number of years before the 1917 Russian Revolution, when Nicholas still served as the Russian czar).

And the poor teacher of Chaslavitch responded: “Nicholas? He was coronated years ago, why do we need to coronate him again? Besides, he?! He is not a real king...”

“Tonight, my dear children, we coronate G-d; we place a crown on G-d…

“And do you know who places the crown?” The teacher continued. “Yankel the Tailor, Berel the Shoemaker, Zalman the water-carrier, Yossel the painter, Dovid the butcher…”

Rabbi Soloveitchik concluded: Over the years I have given many sermons and written many discourses on the concept of Rosh Hashanah, but nothing ever made me feel the true depth and power of the day as the words of my childhood teacher. Every year, when I recite in the Rosh Hashanah prayers the words, ‘Rule over the whole world in Your glory,’ I remember my teacher in Chaslavitch.

The Essence

How much of Judaism is compressed in this brief conversation between teacher and students? In a few words, a poverty-stricken Jewish teacher in a small shtetl in Russia gave his seven-year-old students the core, the essence, the very marrow of Jewish existence, of Jewish thought.

Now he needed not explain to them why they should marry Jewish girls, continue living as Jews, be proud of their Jewishness, as so many teachers and educators today. It was more than obvious: Who would want to miss out on the opportunity of coronating G-d…

***

But why does G-d need us to coronate Him? If G-d created us, does He really need us to declare Him king; He is the boss regardless?

And what does it mean that G-d is our king Imagine you assemble 1,000,000 ants and declare yourself king over them. When 50,000 of them then turn left instead of right, you kill them in a single instance. Does that make you king over them? G-d gave us our entire existence; our entire being and life force are from Him. Relative to Him we are far smaller and far les significant than an ant in the presence of a human. Can He then said to be our king? Is that not an insult for Him?

Yet here lay one of the great and daring ideas of Judaism. G-d, the perfect endless one, desired to be king not through power or by the dictates of nature. He desired to be chosen as king; He wanted a relationship with someone distinct of Him who would freely choose to construct a bond with G-d.

So an infinite, omnipotent G-d suspends His infinity, suppresses His endlessness and concealed His omnipotence, in order to allow space for an intelligent, independent and self-oriented human being who is then capable of choosing G-d as his or her king.

The Night

This, the spiritual masters explained, is the meaning of Rosh Hashanah, the day when the first human was created. It is the day when small, frail, vulnerable and lowly human beings invite G-d to serve as their King.

G-d could place His own crown on His head, but then He would be a dictator, not a king; the relationship would be coerced not chosen. So G-d waits all year for this great moment for which the entire universe was created – the moment when you and I coronate Him as our king.

Rosh Hashanah is the most moving day in the Jewish calendar. More than any other day, it embodies the meaning of human existence and the vulnerability of a G-d who linked His fate to man’s.

Happy Coronation Night.

VIDEO: LIKKUTEI SICHOS -- ROSH HASHANAH
NEW!

Why Did Chanah Appear Drunk?

Good News

Malka Fleisher, who writes for the Jewish Press, brings us good news about the world's Jewish population:

"The global Jewish population grew by more than 88,000 people over the past year, and now stands at 13.75 million, according to a new study published y Professor Sergio DellaPergola of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Though the huge number of simchas is a boon to the Jewish people, it pales in comparison to the growth rate of the rest of the world. While the Jewish population grew by 0.65% in 2012, the global population grew by almost double that – 1.26%. According to the study, one out of every 514 people in the world is Jewish – less than 0.2% of the world population.

"The report noted that the largest Jewish population in the world resides in Israel – 5.97 million, accounting for 43% of the world’s Jews. 5.46 million – 39% – live in the United States. The number of Jews living outside of Israel shrunk by over 10,000 people, due to intermarriage and aliyah. Intermarriage is a significant factor in US Jewish population rates, due to the fact that over 50% of Jews who married in the last year married outside the faith."

This morning's Jerusalem Post, on page 5, reports that one set of triplets, and seven sets of twins were born over the weekend (Shabbat I imagine).

Slowly, the master plan for the Geula is shaping before our eyes. Israel's population is growing, the ingathering is continuing, with America's Jews being the most resistant to returning Home. And now the righting of an historical wrong is getting started today:

'I am a Refugee' Campaign Launch Monday

First international conference to highlight the issue of the Jewish refugees from Arab lands being held in Jerusalem.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in conjunction with the Ministry of Pensioners Affairs and the World Jewish Congress, will hold the first international conference to highlight the issue of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries Monday at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon will speak about a plan of action to make the issue prominent in the international arena, including placing it on the United Nations' agenda and passing resolutions in parliaments around the world." read more at I Am a Refugee

Backtracking, Backstabbing, Leaking: Ordinary Israeli Intrigue

Does this spell

P o l i t i c a l ..... R e s h u f f l i n g?

Haaretz's Amir Oren reported that Barak opposes launching an attack on the eve of the U.S. elections, and that he may be aiming to join a party headed by Tzipi Livni and to become defense minister in a Livni government. (i.e., someone in the White House is furious with Israel's Prime Minister, and now wants him replaced. So we see the same duo ganging up on Bibi.)


Yuval Steinitz: “Barak has stung twice in the past. The first time he stung the members of Kadima and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the second time he stung his friends at the Labor party – Ben-Eliezer, Herzog and Braverman. He may sting again.” (Sounds like he is more devoted to Netanyahu, and maybe is hinting that the leaks cam from the Defense Minister himself. A good enough reason to replace him.) Arutz Sheva news.

Now Gil Ronen: Barak Backstabbed Bibi on Bombing? Something caused Netanyahu to start talking about red lines instead of imminent attack. Did Barak flip-flop?

What happened to the Prime Minister's urgency to stop Iran at all costs? Who had his ear"

"Netanyahu faces an extremely hostile and unabashedly political press at home that militantly opposes an Iranian strike by Israel, as well as pressure by the U.S. and other nations, to refrain from such an attack. However, as long as he had Barak by his side on this matter, he had the political maneuvering room to carry out the attack despite these pressures." More at INNews

Personally, I believe that Israel will not attack Iran. That there will have to be a 'crisis' in the air, and then we will see more prophecies play out in the Geulah scenario. Am Yisrael must come to the level of fear that produces tremendous teshuva. Our Rabbis promised miracles like those in the days of Yetzias Mitzrayim. This is what I will wait for.

Does this possibly answer the question of

WHO LEAKED THE SECURITY CABINET DISCUSSIONS?

Hot Air From Charlotte Moves North

UPDATE: tornadoes in New York City, darkened tens of thousands of homes in the Washington, D.C., area and flooded New England streets turned a normal day of rest into a day of cleaning up for many East Coast residents on Sunday.


Strange, but after all the depletions and insertions in the DNC platform, I guess the "Great Weatherman" threw a couple tornados into coastal New York, Queens and Brooklyn, while Maryland and Virginia saw funnel clouds:

The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down in Canarsie, Brooklyn and a tornado touched down in Breezy Point, Queens Saturday morning. The National Weather Service categorized the tornado that touched down in Canarsie as an EF1 tornado. Tornadoes in that category have the potential to reach speeds of up to 110 miles per hour."





"... estimates the tornado that touched down in Queens was 50 yards wide and 600 feet long. The tornado was classified as an EF0 tornado, which has wind speeds between 65 and 85 miles per hour."

"I was showing videos of tornadoes to my 4-year-old on my phone, and two minutes later, it hit," said Breezy Point neighborhood resident Peter Maloney. "Just like they always say, it sounded like a train."

"Tornado-like funnel clouds were reported in Fairfax County, Va., and in Prince George's County, Md., but had not been confirmed by Saturday evening, meteorologist Andy Woodcock of the National Weather Service said."

Welcome to Liberal New York

The Brody File, David not Lazer

The following is from the Brody File, a CBN News Blog:

Democrats Drop 'G-d' From Party Platform

"Guess what? G-d’s name has been removed from the Democratic National Committee platform.

"This is the paragraph that was in the 2008 platform:

“We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”

"Now the words “G-d-given” have been removed. The paragraph has been restructured to say this:

“We gather to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth – the simple principle that in America, hard work should pay off, responsibility should be rewarded, and each one of us should be able to go as far as our talent and drive take us.”

*******

Meanwhile 4.9 Million are out of work, and 45,753,078 are using food stamps

Boy, are the Demoncrats in trouble!

First it was Jerusalem, now it's the G-d of the Universe,

at least they realize they go together.

Tower of Babel anyone?

"The Government Is The Only Thing We All Belong To"

Charlotte-Nburg* and Charlotte-NoCarolina

Photo: Reuters

This was a headline on page 7 of today's Jerusalem Post:

Four German girls verbally attacked Jewish girls near their Orthodox school in Charlottenburg, Berlin.

Doesn't that make you think of "Charlotte, N(orth Carolina)" and the turn of events at the Leftist convention? Charlottenburg?

Could not pass by this remarkable juxtaposition of events. This headline should have been on the front page next to the Demo...n Convention in Charlotte-No Carolina.

These were the blaring words on the Front Page of the Jerusalem Post. Why didn't they put the above article next to this one on the same front page? How could they miss the connection?

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM REMOVES REFERENCE TO JERUSALEM AS ISRAEL'S CAPITAL

... and out of the other side of the Democratic mouth is "Obama's 'unshakable commitment to Israel's security'."

The Jewish Leftists ( self-hating ) are truly laying a platform for dissent, deception, disaster. Lee Rosenberg? What a contrast from the days of a strongly-aligned AIPAC and the nightmare of AIPAC's agenda today. Regardless of what those guys say about being "arguably the most pro-Israel platform language that has ever been in a party platform," such talk is vapor escaping into the air.

When it came time to aid and protect Israel, it was Truman and Nixon who demonstrated their integrity through their actions in Israel's defense. We don't need flattery and buttery words to conceal a two-sided diplomatic policy to the Jewish people. Obama's democratic (euro-socialist-minded czars) policies will try to slip and slide the Israelis into giving in to the Arab agenda.

"Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it," Mrs. President, America doesn't need any more "dreams," they feel as if they are in a really bad one right now.

They want reality, integrity and honesty.

Oh, and "Don't make Israel a wedge issue in 2012" as Gil Troy wrote, No, just put a wedge between the Jewish People and Jerusalem, with the above omission.



The large headline at the top of the same page 7, another glaring Berlin attack:

Austrian Rabbi: Nazi Hooligan Verbally Attacked Me

"IN BERLIN - An extremist right-wing soccer hooligan verbally attacked a Vienna rabbi last week, giving the Nazi salute and yelling “Jews get out."

According to the rabbi, the police officer told him 'come on, it is soccer today'. He said he then approached a second group of police officers, who told him they did not see anything. When he explained to the second contingent of officers that 'at least 20 witnesses saw it,' the police responded that they could not help him..."

Doesn't this bring to mind the 'joyful spirit' of the old Gladiator sports arenas?

Jerusalem Post, I think you need a snappy Front Page editor. Might sell more papers. More of all of this at JPost.com.

I Believe ...

I believe that anti-semitism must increase to unprecedented levels in all countries of the world, except for Israel, because the Geula needs almost all Jews in Israel to actualize, i.e., the Promised Land needs Am Yisrael and Yidden studying Torah daily to be elevated to the status of the Geula. Then we will see wonders and niflaos.

The Jews need to be 'chased out' of all foreign lands, and back to their natural Homeland. And those within Israel who are undeserving and in their own way rishus will be chased out or otherwise.

Robust and Powerful Words

This is amazing. I don't think the American People have witnessed this side to Mitt Romney, hopefully the next President of the United States. I viewed this on Life in Israel and as usual Rafi brings us many outstanding perspectives on life in Israel, and the American component is equally important.

Today Migron, Tomorrow Jerusalem ...

Photo: Marc Israel Sellem, Jerusalem Post

Look Out French Hill, Ramat Eshkol, Arzei HaBira, Ramat Shlomo, Gilo, Neve Yaakov, Pisgat Zeev, East Talpiot, all so-called Israeli settlements. Tel Aviv is not far behind!

"Tyranny begins in Migron"

Michael Freund

"What happens today in Migron could very well happen tomorrow in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Beersheba. On Tuesday, a fateful hearing took place at the Supreme Court to determine the destiny of the Jewish community of Migron.

"The complicated history of the site, and the legal wrangling surrounding it over the past six years, have left many people wondering where right begins and wrong ends.

"...the state is willfully choosing to ignore the legal purchase of land by its citizens and is prepared to expel them from their homes.

"Needless to say, this is nothing less than an outrage."

Read all of Michael Freund's Opinion Piece

MAP, JERUSALEM RING ROAD

How did I miss this!!!!!!

I go out almost every day in Yerushalayim, and I missed this!!!!

What is Cruelty and Insanity?

The headline on page 10 of Wednesday's Jerusalem Post:

"State prosecutor to high court: Migron outpost can be evacuated in a few days...

Regional Council engineer: New site won't be ready for a month."



Do they want to forcibly evacuate these 50 families, so that they are not eligible for the new housing?

To punish these brave pioneers for securing a strategic hill, for trying to legally purchase this land? Why is it that they declare the land belongs to Jews? Is the court not acknowledging their claims? Is the court taking sides, the side of the Arabs against the Jews? Where are the real answers?

Is this an act of vengeance against "settlers" on the part of ... who?

Yonatan Ben Nava

Please say tehillim for Yonatan Ben Nava

"Addressing IDF commanders, she said, "I want to send a message. First of all, make sure that they will not be so tired, so they will not have to just plunk themselves down and sleep so hard that they can't even hear a tank approaching. Secondly, they should make sure not to let them sleep in a tank field, they should sleep in an organized manner."

"Yonatan, or Yoni, is "an amazing, wonderful guy," she said. "A tzaddik who sanctifies the Name of Heaven wherever he goes. A combat soldier in Golani who insisted on going into combat."

"An initial inquiry showed that the Merkava tank that ran over Yoni was moving backward and its crew did not see the soldier, who was sleeping on the path used by tanks."

An Electric Visionary

The following comes from a site called 'Kickstarter' which appears to help raise money to fund 'great projects.'

A short video of Nikola Tesla's life, a preview of the film they are hoping to produce.



“ELECTRICITY” is a film - a docudrama about the life of Nikola Tesla, the creation of electricity and many other important inventions we now enjoy in our modern lives. This film tells a story about the importance of one man and his many technological gifts to the world, and how his name and legacy were removed from America's history.








We are creating a docudrama that will crack history wide open to expose Dr. Nikola Tesla an inventor, scientist, scholar and visionary who from 1856 – 1943 changed our lives forever.

Dr. Tesla’s legacy is defined and ever present through his many inventions and patents, such as the (A/C) alternating current electric power generator, used to this day to deliver on demand electricity to our homes and businesses, robotics, remote control, radio, neon light, wireless communication, wireless energy, X-ray and many more important inventions that shape our lives daily and our future.

It has been stated that; mankind would be one-hundred years behind in technology today, if it were not for Dr. Nikola Tesla’s vision and inventions. Amazingly, even today in our electric powered modern society, Dr. Tesla is not taught in our schools at any level, and in fact- you probably have never heard of Nikola Tesla. This is one of the most important stories of all time.

To read more about Dr Tesla, who was a friend to Mark Twain, visit The Tesla Society

Two Graduates From Harvard

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.*

The Longer Shorter Way**

Two Graduates of Harvard

Two Paths, Two Souls

I read an amazing interview on the Times of Israel *** site about a young Arab that became, in his words, "the luckiest man I know." While reading this, I immediately thought of another young man who might also think himself lucky. But first,

One man from the fields of the Galilee to Brandeis Univ., Johns Hopkins, then Harvard Business School.

Hussein Forsan, 34, explains how the opportunity for a full education scholarship presented: "After his mother called him with the news..."

'I was on the construction site. I was wearing jeans and dirty boots and a dirty T-shirt....I apologized for my appearance [to the scholarship committee]. I explained that I had come from work and only got home at weekends. I said that, ‘If you really want to know me, please allow me to speak Hebrew. I won’t be able to express myself in English. I promise you, if I get the scholarship, I’ll learn English in a few months.’ They looked at each other, and said okay, and I was off ."

The interviewer explains:

"Throughout our conversations, installments of his biography were often followed by a rapid switch into the subject Hussein wants to talk about much more — the need for Israel’s Jews and Arabs to shed the defensiveness and the paranoia, to spend more time in each other’s company, to build a country together."

“[Hussein] I am empathetic of the Jewish mentality of fear. The Holocaust, the Arab wars, and previous tragedies — I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. But that history and cycle of paranoia dictates today’s attitudes. By building walls, by shielding yourself from others, you lose sight of them…. My dream and vision is to work on the business side of peace — to be an ambassador for Israel in the Arab countries, and for the Arab countries in Israel. One day.”

This is the long but short way, a lengthy path to bring understanding to two peoples, to build, to share, to improve the world.


The other man from Hawaii/Kenya/Indonesia to Columbia Univ. and then Harvard.

According to Wikipedia, Barry Soweto went to schools in Honolulu, Jakarta, Los Angeles, New York City, and Cambridge, where he graduated from Harvard in 1991. For three years he worked in Chicago as a community developer between Columbia and Harvard. After Harvard he returned to Chicago and got involved with Chicago politics, and where he taught constitutional law at the Univ of Chicago Law School. In 1997, he became an Illinois Senator. In 2004, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. In 2008, Barack Obama ran for and was elected President of the United States of America, being the first African American to be elected President.

Short sweet success.

In an amazingly short period of four years, little Barry Soweto has become a divisive tornado raging through American society, with policies that are dismantling business, society, politics, and people's personal lives. To me, this was a very short path to achieve his goals to decimate the unique founding principles of a great nation, and with his like-minded personal cabinet of czars has forced his personal vision of socialism [some say Marxism; see also Top 7 Policies] onto the once great prosperous country of America, putting it into a long, long, road to recovery back to its founding principles in 1776.

These principles gave its people a "Declaration of Independence, a Constitution, a Bill of Rights, a body of laws to endow the people with 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,' meant to exemplify the 'inalienable rights' with which all human beings are endowed by their Creator and for the protection of which they institute governments."

This is the "short but long way." A short path of destruction and a long way to recovery.


______________________

* The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost.

** in life there is a "short but long way" and a "long but short way," Tanya, The Longer Shorter Way.

*** While the intent of the writer of this story seems to be "an indictment" aimed at the Government of Israel and its leaders, in my estimation it really portrays the failure of this man's own community leaders for not taking a different path, a path to improve the lives of its people, to eliminate hate, and to educate their young to 'reach for the stars' instead of the guns and bombs. No people in the world has rebuilt their lives and communal infrastructure successfully, so many times, after being persecuted and crushed in country after country for thousands of years more than the Jewish People. It can be done.

Amazing ... Breathtaking

Glenn Beck brought together some interesting experts specifically to discuss Israel and our situation.

Go to gbtv.com sign up for a free subc go to the area for his 5PM daily show, search for the Friday, Aug 24 show and click on 'show archive' and you can watch the Friday program.

Very interesting because of the strength of their commitment to Israel and the Jewish People. Even with the evangelical and other xtian supporters, this scenario has I believe overwhelmed those sincere G-d fearing people. Only those who know the Jewish Bible, are religious, and have a righteous soul could even consider siding with the people who are at the center of this turmoil. What Pastor Hagee states reveals that he understands so much more than our Jewish leftist brothers and sisters.

It's amazing what they know and think.

If Israel attacks Iran, there G-d forbid will be an all-fronts bombardment of my Homeland.

HaShem Yerachem!

Not Only in Israel: Illinois, Chicago, New York, Boston ...

In case you didn"t read this in the Friday Jerusalem Post Magazine section, here it is in toto:

Education begins at home

by Israel Kasnett

Schools in Israel need to get their acts together and crack down on violent behavior in a manner that educates – and not only punishes – delinquents.

Judging by the headlines over the last few days, it would be easy to deduce that the country is in an uproar over an incident that took place in Jerusalem last week.

Eyewitnesses said that approximately two dozen Jewish teenagers surrounded an Arab youth on Thursday night in Zion Square and began to beat him, continuing to kick him even after he fell unconscious to the ground. A New York Times article read, “Hundreds of bystanders watched the mob beating, the police said – and no one intervened.” Other media outlets made the non-intervention of bystanders a major part of the story, as if to say that Israelis are indifferent to the beating of Arabs.

Those who believe that this is out of the ordinary are mistaken. Take a look around the world and you will notice numerous cases of mobs attacking a victim as bystanders do nothing.

In June 2011, CBS Chicago reported that Kris Wilkowski was attacked by a mob of teenagers right across the street from the downtown campus of Northwestern University. Bystanders stood by and did nothing to assist him.

In another report, a man named Anthony Adams was brutally beaten in a Chicago YMCA parking lot by a group led by a classmate as others stood by. In a separate incident, Derrion Albert, who was beaten to death by a mob, could have been saved by bystanders. Then too, no one intervened.

Last year, an ABC News report covered the beating of a woman by four thugs on a busy street in Boston as witnesses walked by. In July, a girl was molested and beaten by a mob of men in Guawahati, India, while people stood and watched. It took police from a nearby station 45 minutes to act.

In April 2010, ABC News also reported an incident that took place in New York. Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, a homeless man, collapsed on a sidewalk after he was stabbed several times by a mugger, but not a single passerby bothered to help or to alert the police – until he had been lying there bleeding to death for over an hour. The incident, captured on a surveillance camera, began when Tale-Yax attempted to thwart a mugger who had attacked a woman on the street. The mugger stabbed him and then more than 20 people passed his wounded body on the sidewalk. In fact, one man rolled Tale-Yax over and then walked away, and another used his cell phone to photograph the dying man.

The same report repeats one of the most notorious and recent examples of indifference, which took place in China in 2011 when a toddler was run over – not once, but twice – and ignored by at least 18 pedestrians and cyclists.

Clearly, the phenomenon of non-intervention by bystanders is not one that can be defined as solely an Israeli problem. At the root of all this is, as Jeff Brumley writes on Jacksonville.com, what social scientists call the bystander effect – or Genovese Syndrome – after a 1960s incident in which a woman was stabbed and raped as neighbors watched.

ABC News refers to it as “a psychological phenomenon where people fail to act instead of listening to their moral compasses” and “is a common inhibitor of altruism.

Psychologists have demonstrated that if one person is spurred to take action, others will follow. But if nobody makes that first move, others may not either.”

CLEARLY, SOMETHING is amiss in Israeli society, but the media’s effort to make it seem as though it is a racist, Israeli-Palestinian conflict-related issue is definitely off the mark. The fact is, violence is universal and the bystander effect is a worldwide phenomenon.

People need to realize that education begins at home, and apparently Israeli parents are raising violent children. Blame it on TV, blame it on Israeli culture. Blame it on anything, but it is inexcusable.

The “death to Arabs” refrain is, unfortunately, a common one at local soccer games and continues to go relatively unchallenged by authorities, although there have been recent efforts to curb this type of behavior.

That being said, it is impossible to judge a society – any society – by its teenagers. No society is represented by its young hooligans, but rather by the success of its education system and its justice system. Society is judged by its values and moral standards and by those who contribute to society.

According to SOS Violence – The Israeli Center for Violence Studies, some of the issues that exacerbate youth violence include eagerness of the media to create sensationalist stories, public desire to find shortterm solutions, politicians’ desire to be seen as the ones dealing with the problem, and a “zero tolerance” policy.

All of these, the report says, actually contribute to the problem of violence. Rather, what is needed is an investment in “a supportive policy which could provide tools and support for youth.”

The center suggests “focusing on reducing alienation within the classroom as part of training workshops for teachers and students” and proposes that teachers “focus on training students and providing tools to cope with negative dynamics of individuals and groups in the classroom.”

The center also offers “an alternative model to the balance of power in the class. If today students perceive aggression as an effective tool for achieving/promoting/maintaining social status, the SOS Center and the students in the classroom work together to create a different model in which the tool to achieve those things will be reversed.”

Schools in Israel need to get their acts together and crack down on violent behavior in a manner that educates – and not only punishes – delinquents. But first, parents need to raise their kids properly. Education begins at home.

With A Mighty Hand ...

Today, the JPost reads "a reportedly large Hezbollah military drill held in southern Lebanon is part of an Iranian orchestrated preparation for a confrontation with Israel, a senior Israeli security analyst said."

Ok, first we had Egypt militarily moving into the Sinai. That's our Southern Front.

Now, we have Hezbollah militarily exercising it's muscle in southern Lebanon. That's our Northern Front.

Iran is still feverishly preparing their (nuclear) missiles to bombard Israel from the East.

What's left, the Mediterranean sea? Who's going to approach us from there? Hamas?

Just a month ago, there was a Russian submarine parked right off the coast of Georgia, that's Georgia, USA. Unnoticed while it collected all the data it was sent for.

That was the local news watch

In the rest of the world,

Circumcision and Shechita are being attacked, precisely because they are Jewish rituals of identification. We are getting it from all around us. Why not just forego our rituals for something benign, like those of the anti-Semites of the world, suggested one European? Why not try to banish the Muslim rite of circumcision and Hallal? Beware!

And when it comes to combatting terror, America convenes a Global Counterterrorism Forum, but excludes the one country living under terror way over 64 years. That's us, Israel. But maybe it's a good idea to eliminate terror from the rest of the world first, so the poor repressed people of the world can breathe again. This would then give them credibility, instead of being labeled hypocrites.

Caroline Glick says it succinctly, "Not only did the US exclude Israel, at the GCF’s meeting last month in Spain, Maria Otero, the State Department’s under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, seemed to embrace the Muslim world’s obscene claim that Israelis are not victims of terrorism because terrorism against Israel isn’t terrorism."

"So despite the fact that Israel is a major target of terrorism, and despite the fact that many of the states the US invited to its forum condone terrorism against Israel and support terrorist groups that murder Israeli Jews, Israel is better off being excluded, because the anti-Jewish governments invited by the Obama administration will somehow totally change their perspective on anti-Jewish terrorism as long as they don’t have to suffer the irritation of sitting in the same room as real-live representatives of the Jewish state."


Do we need any more hints that we need to cry out to God to forgive us and take away our enemies quickly in a massive show* of "a mighty hand," "an outstretched arm," "with great fear," "with signs" and "with wonders"



*from our Pesach Haggadah

EDUCATION or LACK of EDUCATION

I love Eretz Yisrael, I love all Israelis, and it hurst me terribly when good Jews become victims of poor education and are distanced from their Jewish Heritage.

Recently there have been a number of attacks perpetrated by Jews against Arabs. We don't know what started the fight, but many of us do know how it all began. One Mertz Knesset Member, Zahava Gal-On, in her assessment of the events, reflects the juvenile education process that has (sadly) produced generations of Israelis ignorant of their historical identity, lacking pride in their heritage, and a paucity of intrinsic healthy self-esteem and dignity.

There are many many Israelis who have survived this deprivation and have gone through the IDF and University to acquire skills and intellectual resources that have contributed much to our Nation of Jews, life in Israel, and the entire world. These are the *more fortunate ones.

We have heard repeated many times, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" by George Santayana. And if one has never fully learned about their past ....

America in 1948 produced 'the Kerouac Generation' that melted into the Hippie Generation, known for "anti-war, liberation and idealism of the civil rights movement, feminism, gay rights," and Woodstock, among other things.

64 years after 1948, Israel has produced their version of a 'social justice movement' framed similar to the anti-capitalists of the "occupy movement" [peaceful occupation ... to protest economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, and ... a large percentage of educated but dissatisfied youth within the population] and, let's not forget, the Jerusalem Woodstock Revival. (Who needs the 60's all over again? But it seems there are remnants nurturing those memories.)

In her interview,

"... Meretz Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On saw a direct link between the attack and educating Jewish youth about ancient history in Hevron, where the first three Jewish forefathers and three of the four matriarchs are buried... “I am talking abut the atmosphere that is created towards someone who is not ‘one of us'.”

"The attack in Jerusalem 'is a result of the education and legal system,' MK Gal-On said on Voice of Israel radio Monday morning. She also suggested that certain Knesset Members, presumably those who are from nationalist religious parties, also 'communicate the wrong attitude'.”

I was astonished at her naivete.

Ms Gal-On you have it backwards. You need to learn more about our Jewish Ancestors. You should join the groups of youngsters that visit Hevron and learn about Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Sarah, Rivka, Leah, and yes, Adam and Chava. That is where our Jewish Mesorah begins, and our Jewish morals and ethics are from Pirkei Avos: Ethics of our Fathers.

Because Israeli children are not taught adequately about their true history, from the time of our Father Avraham, and are taught only that Israeli history begins with Herzl and 1948. What do you expect from children who are taught that Ben-Gurion (David Grun) was Israel's "founding father."

1948 is the middle of the movie, and three thousand years preceded it.

Our rich history goes all the way back to Avraham Avinu who began the process of the creation of the Jewish People, and with his sons, Yitzchak and Yaakov Avinu, the same who are buried in Hevron.

If one only begins teaching Jewish History when Zionism entered the scene, one is ignoring and denying knowledge and understanding of why we are Jews, and how to stay Jews. In the echo of Santanaya, if we don't know who we are and tell the world who we are, why should the world acknowledge our heritage?

To raise generations without giving them our entire heritage is robbing them of their identity, self-esteem, and a wealth of inner resources with which to face the future.

Without this you will find many young people, who are the *less fortunate, 'hanging around' Zion Square looking for trouble.

As the above escalates, so too the Iranian threat:

Rav Ovadia Yosef: "The Sephardic religious leader claimed that most teachers within the secular education system are heretics, which is why their students go on to embrace an 'evil culture and become wicked.' They also grow up without religion or justice and do not uphold Jewish customs [...] Addressing the Iranian nuclear threat, Rav Yosef called on worshipers to pray. "Evil (forces) – Iran – are about to destroy us," he said. "We must pray to God with all our hearts. We are in danger. We are all in danger. We have no one to lean on besides God."

And as one astute blogger commented:

Rav Ovadia Shlit"a "The closest thing to the Urim Vetumim in our generation."

An Old American Political Tradition?

I think the Arabs are on to something here, as they celebrate the end of Ramadan with Eid al-Fitr, dipping into the waters near Haifa:

Why we also had American Politicians dipping into Israeli waters:

"Kansas Rep. Kevin Yoder had gone skinnydipping in the religiously significant Sea of Galilee while on a congressional fact-finding mission to Israel."



“A year ago, my wife, Brooke, and I joined colleagues for dinner at the Sea of Galilee in Israel. After dinner I followed some Members of Congress in a spontaneous and very brief dive into the sea and regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit,” well his wife was there so how bad could it have been.

Don't you actually think he behaved more like an Israeli, or was he just revisiting an American convention? Some former American statesmen held the same ritual:



"Not only was American renaissance man Benjamin Franklin ... he also loved to swim both clothed and nude at a time when, according to Smithsonian Magazine, 'swimming was something most people did only to escape drowning'. Franklin went for daily swims in London's river Thames in the 1750s, but ultimately ditched skinny-dipping for 'air baths,' which he described in a 1750 letter to a friend":

You know the cold bath has long been in vogue here (London) as a tonic, but the shock of the cold water has always appeared to me as too violent, and I have found it much more agreeable to my constitution to bathe in another element, I mean cold air. With this in view I rise almost every morning and sit in my chamber without any clothes whatever, half an hour or an hour, according to the season, either reading or writing.




Theodore Roosevelt was known for his sportsmanlike adventures, and described [dipping] thusly in his autobiography: "If we swam the Potomac, we usually took off our clothes."


"John Quincy Adams, in office from 1825 to 1829, stripped down to his birthday suit for laps in the Potomac at 5:00am every morning."

Read more about these American Pioneers at the UPI blog from where I found all this: "American politicians who loved skinnydipping."


This must be a tradition held onto from the former Great Britain. One current British Prince is carrying it on:

Britain's Royal Prince Harry also believes in dipping. He challenged "11-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte to a swimming race in a pool in Las Vegas."

Kol kavod bas melech pnima ... inside the Torah, Daf Yomi, Talmud!

Kol Kavod bas Melech Pnima ... inside the Torah, Daf Yomi, Talmud ... plus the kitchen, and a whole lot more!

Siyum haShas by the Women of Alon Shvut

first viewed at Muqata. A little late but nevertheless ....

From All Fronts ... again?

A headline in today's Jerusalem Post says, "Haniyeh: Hamas government ready for security coordination with Cairo."

As I try to read between the lines of events portrayed in the news, this speaks one thing to me,

If the Arabs begin coordinating security between themselves, surrounding the tiny State of Israel, it means war.

In 1948 they attacked us on all fronts, but today they are much stronger, more militarily supplied. And they have had many years of practice lobbing missiles in our direction.

This headline and more like it, with supposed 'coordination' means only one thing, they are gearing up and preparing for another try at attacking us on all fronts.

Now that Saudia Arabia is shouting that ancient blood libel while they are arming themselves with nuclear missiles from China, we can only guess what will happen when the sands of Arabia are ignited. After all, this is where many of the rogue family tribes became united under a blood thirsty vengeful terrorist.

This afternoon, Arutz Sheva online:

"Egypt has deployed both anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles near Israel’s border in the Egyptian Sinai, without Israel’s permission. The Israeli government has asked Egypt to withdraw the armored vehicles it deployed in Sinai 11 days ago

"If the report is true, the move is an overtly hostile one toward Israel and can only mean that Egypt is preparing for hostilities with the Jewish state. Ostensibly, Egyptian forces moved into Sinai only in order to crush terrorist activity there. However, the terrorists possess no aircraft. Therefore anti-aircraft missiles can only be intended against Israel's air force.

"In the prelude to the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Egypt moved anti-aircraft missiles close to the Suez Canal."

We know how that ended.

I hope Israel's IDF are viewing this as a threat on all fronts, and are preparing for action. This one will be defensive and not pre-emptive.

What is Hezbolla doing?

Israel Small But Outstanding

Quote ... Unquote

Quote

Foreign Minister Lieberman

“it is not reasonable to destroy houses

in the Ulpana neighborhood [of Beit El in Samaria]

and ignore 100,000 illegal residential structures

in the Arab [and Bedouin] sectors

in the Galilee in the north and in the Negev.”

Unquote

Double, Double Toil and Trouble ...

"The 'peace process' is considered to be dead and buried by virtually all parties except Western leaders, particularly those in the European Union and the United States."INNews

So the stage is set:

"A dark Cave

In the middle, a Caldron boiling.

Thunder

Enter the three Witches": EU, America, NGOs

"For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble,

double, double toil and trouble;

fire burn, and caldron bubble." *

"The European Union on Tuesday publicized [despite a formal protest] a list of Israeli settlements beyond the Green Line – [and they, davka, included] parts of Modi’in, Maccabim and Re’ut – from which manufactured products will not be allowed duty-free entrance into Europe." ... "Under the EU-Israel free trade agreement, Israeli products are allowed duty-free entry into the EU, but not goods made in the settlements. EU products coming into Israel also enjoy a duty-free status." JPost

Despite a formal protest by Israel, the EU [maliciously] included areas not in dispute. "For anyone who deals in reality, there is not the slightest doubt that the Modi’in, Maccabim and Re’ut localities are an integral part of Israel, and their future is not in question". Ditto

"Remarkably,” the Foreign Ministry statement said, “by the unilateral publication of the locations list on the Internet, the EU has unacceptably cut off a negotiating process regarding this very issue. [Perhaps not] This action, conducted ‘ex abrupto,’ has therefore been the object of an official protest lodged by the Mission of Israel in Brussels to the European Union.” Ditto

This list includes over 300 zip codes, now banned and tarnished by the EU. More economic warfare. Collusion of the mightiest of wicked minds.

Shove this straw down your throats, Eisav:

No such thing as "No man's land".

Wikipedia: Possession is nine tenths of the law. This principle can be restated as: "in a property dispute (whether real or personal), in the absence of clear and compelling testimony or documentation to the contrary, the person in actual possession of the property is presumed to be the rightful owner."

And "it places in a strong light the legal truth that every claimant must succeed by the strength of his own title, and not by the weakness of his antagonist's."

And "colonial administrative boundaries become international boundaries when a political subdivision or colony achieves independence [Israel]."

And "It has been said that 'squatter's rights' and 'possession is 9/10ths of the law' were largely responsible for how the American west was really won.

*Macbeth, William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Do I hear annexation, anyone?

Money Talks

Yo, Boycotters, Maybe They Want to Partner on a New Shopping Mall?

Arab billionaire Talks to Rami Levy

"Munib Al-Musri’s talks with Levy over the Saudi Arabia 2002 Peace Plan infuriated the Boycott National Committee because of the location of the meeting. The Boycott movement calls for a total ban on products made in Judea and Samaria and on conducting meetings with Jews in the area.

"Al-Masri met with Levy in order to drum up Israeli support for the Peace Initiative, which demands Israel’s forfeiting all land restored to the country in the Six-Day War in 1967 and calls for flooding the Jewish state with millions of foreign Arabs claiming Israel as home.

"The PA businessman said he met with Levy rather than with Israeli leftists because the 'peace camp' has little influence on the public. The Boycott movement saw the location of the meeting as being anti-peace, calling it one of the “worst kinds of normalization” that 'gives the occupation-state a fig leaf with which to cover its continued occupation, ethnic cleansing, and racism'.” Source: Arutz 7

Racism: That's why Rami Levy hires Arabs and Jews to work in his stores in Judea and Samaria.

Normalization: Those same stores are "filled with Jewish and Arab shoppers" especially prior to Ramadan, the Muslim day of rest, and Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.

Ethnic Cleansing: The only cleansing going on here is being done to the fresh vegetables, and maybe the floors.

"By His Will Orders The Stars In The Constellations ..."

Shabbat Eikev, August 11-12

"... the hand of Yaakov grasping the heel of Eisav..."

The Heavens announce G-d's majesty, prior to welcoming the new moon of Elul on Shabbat, by lighting up the Heavens with a

Perseid meteor shower, seen by nine thousand Israelis at 3,000-foot high Mitzpeh Ramon, in the central Negev, watching more than one meteor a minute.

The spectacle in the sky began after the earliest time for the daily evening prayers, in which Jews around the world recite before the “Shema Yisrael” prayer, "by His wisdom opens the gates of heaven, with understanding makes time change and the season rotate, and by His will orders the stars in their constellations in the sky.”

The annual Perseid meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through the dusty remains of the comet Swift-Tuttle. Its names is derived from the constellation Perseus, from where the meteor shower appears to put on its show. NASA said that this year’s show was expected to be the best of the year because many startling orbs can be seen as well as the usual shooting stars. "The brightest planets in the solar system are lining up right in the middle of the [Perseid] display," NASA said, referring to Jupiter, Venus and the crescent moon. The red giant star Aldebaran also was visible. Source: Arutz Sheva, INNews

* * * * *

A Greek folk etymology connected the name of the Persian (Pars) people, whom they called the Persai. The native name, however has always had an -a- in Persian. Herodotus recounts this story, devising a foreign son, Perses, from whom the Persians took the name. Apparently the Persians themselves knew the story, as Xerxes tried to use it to suborn the Argives during his invasion of Greece, but ultimately failed to do so. Source: Wikipedia

the Heavens declared mastery

over the Earth when

Shabbat Eikev, August 11-12

brought twin earthquakes to Persia:

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has raised the death toll from Saturday's twin earthquakes to 306, a day after rescuers called off the search for survivors Heath Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi told a session of parliament Monday that the number jumped by about 50 after victims expired in the hospital. More than 3,000 people were injured in the earthquakes. Scores of aftershocks have coursed through Iran's mountainous northeast since the 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes hit the region, where some 300,000 people live near the borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia. Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 2003, some 26,000 people were killed by a 6.6 magnitude quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam. Source: FoxNews

The U.S. Geological Survey measured Saturday's first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 km (37 miles) northeast of the city of Tabriz, a trading hub far from Iran's oil-producing areas and known nuclear facilities. The second, measuring 6.3, struck 11 minutes later near Varzaghan, 49 km (30 miles) northeast of Tabriz.

More than 1,000 villages in the area were affected by the earthquakes, Ahmad Reza Shaji'i, a Red Crescent official, told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA). Some 130 villages suffered more than 70 percent damage, and 20 villages were completely destroyed, he said. Source: Yahoo: (Dubai) Reuters

Another sign in the unfolding of the Geula

Rabbi Richman, "You Didn't Build That ...

The Tower of Bavel Plan

"You didn't build that" is the equivalent of the tower of Bavel creed, where every soul was subservient to the great machinery of erecting an earthly edifice.

"You didn't build that," like the architects of the tower of Bavel plan, is designed, knowingly or unknowingly, to suck the life out of man, and replace the dominion of G-d with a man-based power. This is, in fact, the ultimate degradation of man, made in the image of G-d, that our verse from Deuteronomy warns us against. Once we lose our connection to G-d, in spite of all the brotherhood of man rhetoric that we may invoke and even sincerely believe in, the road to egoism, self aggrandizement and the devaluation of human worth, is perilously short.

Torah exhorts us to push ourselves and strive constantly to reach our potential as human beings. We are, Torah tells us, the children of G-d, created in His image. It is our obligation to create and encourage and maximize the good on this earth. Torah is simply reminding us that, like the first man, we constantly have a choice before us, and that boils down to "stick with G-d, or not." That choice remains ours always, through good times and bad, through lean years and also at the height of our wealth. It is Torah that governs the life of the nation in the land of Israel, and any form of government that is created in order to unify and protect the nation is done so in the name of Torah.

There is no government in Israel independent of G-d's jurisdiction. It can be attempted but it simply cannot exist. This is the truth, on the collective level, embodied in the words. "And you will say to yourself, "My strength and the might of my hand that has accumulated this wealth for me." Torah likewise reminds us that we are the children of our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, that we are always in G-d's eyes a community of individuals each with his own unique connection to G-d, and by allowing each individual to express this connection via the fulfillment of Torah responsibilities and privileges, we can together create a just and thriving Torah society.

Governments are by nature, fallible. The Government of Israel approved what they consider to be a necessary tax increase. One can agree or disagree with the government's policy, but the finance minister had these sage words to say:

"Just like in matters of security, when it come to the economy we cannot rely on anyone but ourselves - and,of course, our Father in the Heavens." In short, we did build it, and we will continue to build it, just as long as we always bear in our minds and in our hearts, the heavenly admonition: "Beware that you do not forget HaShem, your G-d, by not keeping His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes, which I command you this day."

The Temple Institute

Not Since 1525 ... The Publication of the Mikraot Gedolot

"For the past 30 years, 84-year-old Israeli Judaic scholar Menachem Cohen has been on a mission of biblical proportions: Correcting all known textual errors in Jewish scripture to produce a truly definitive edition of the Old Testament.

His edits, focusing primarily on grammatical blemishes and an intricate set of biblical symbols, mark the first major overhaul of the Hebrew Bible in nearly 500 years.

Poring over thousands of medieval manuscripts, Cohen identified 1,500 inaccuracies in the Hebrew language texts that have been corrected in his completed 21-volume set. The final chapter is set to be published next year.

The massive project highlights how Judaism venerates each tiny biblical calligraphic notation as a way of ensuring that communities around the world use precisely the same version of the holy book.

[...]

As a former teacher, Cohen said he took particular pride in a sophisticated search engine that allows even novices to explore his work with ease. He called computers a “third revolution” to affect Jewish scripture, following the shift from scrolls to bound books and the advent of the printing press."

“I want the Bible to be user-friendly,” said Cohen, a grandfather of eight. “Today, we can create sources of information and searches that allow you to get an answer to everything you are wondering.”

Full article at VosIzNeias.

A Further Escalation of Their Ideology ... War

Today this is what they are now saying :

Jihadists' goal: Israel-Egypt war

Analysis: Experienced terrorists in chaotic Sinai looking to ignite entire region, establish rule of Salafi-Wahabi Islam as threat to entire world

After I put together the following items on Monday, with my perspective as No 4, Debka Headlines:

Obama’s Dilemma: Attack Iran First?
Let Israel lead or delay until a tactical nuclear strike becomes necessary.

US Army Set for Israeli Strike in October
American forces will defend Saudi oil and Hormuz

Was Iran behind coordinated Islamist attacks on Egypt and Israel from Sinai? The initial Egyptian and Israeli accounts of the attacks in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed and the Israeli border crashed Sunday night, Aug. 5, don’t match up:

1. Egypt points the finger at the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip;

2. Israel at Sinai salafists.

3. DEBKAfile postulates a third option: Tehran may have harnessed its Gaza Strip proxies and a Sinai al Qaeda cell for coordinated attacks on Egyptian and Israeli military targets to avenge Al Qaeda’s enlistment to the Western-Arab-backed revolt against Bashar Assad.

4. CONSIDER this: Is Tehran instigating both Egypt and Israel in order to propel the "war of the Twelfth Imam's Return? Read this very interesting article from Sept. 2011: Iran's Nuclear Ambitions on Track to Fulfill 12th Iman's Return

Rav Moshe Wolfson Shlit"a: WE MUST PREPARE FOR THE REDEMPTION

Remember what Rav Moshe Wolfson Shlit"a (Boro Park) said in June 2011:

"The fall of a nation is preceded by the fall of it’s sar, or administering angel. Once the sar falls, then the nation will fall. This is based on the Zohar (section 2, page 18a - LB) which says that what the Jews saw on the banks of the Red Sea suf was the sar of Egypt dying. Yishmael has 12 sarim (plural for “sar”)."

“Osama bin Ladin, being the biggest danger to the entire world, had the biggest sar of Yishmael. During these past few weeks as we saw so many entrenched arab leaders, heirs of Yishmael, fall, it is apparent that their defending sar has already fallen and they will continue their downfalls. It is a great thing when sarim fall. The Princes of Yishmael are falling. Bin Laden had their biggest sar. The way the Maharal puts it, he does not have to be a direct descendant of Yishmael. Bin Laden is from the culture of Yishmael.” Keeping Score ... A Reminder


Now, August 2012, Rav Wolfson Shlit"a has this to say:

Disaster, Redemption May be Near

"Our Sages of Blessed Memory say that Persia will destroy the entire world and the Jews will be in a difficult situation," he told his followers. "Why are we quiet? Where is the awakening? Why is everyone apathetic? Why is everyone busy with silly and unimportant things? Do we not hear the alarm? Do we not know that we must break open the gates of Heaven and ask for mercy from G-d?"

"In the coming weeks we face a total war in Iran, Israel, Europe and the U.S. And the nation of Israel in its entirety must prepare spiritually. The Rambam says that it is a mitzvah to pray in difficult times, and if one does not pray, one is being cruel, and it causes the situation to get worse, G-d forbid."

"There is no need to panic," he added. "We believe that G-d will perform miracles for us, it is possible that the time of Redemption (geula) has come and we must prepare for Redemption. Since the Holocaust, G-d has made great miracles for the Jews, especially in the Land of Israel, that hosts most of the world's Jews. And the Torah world receives unnatural help from Heavens. We can see that G-d wants to perform miracles for us and we must prepare for redemptions."

Shame, Shame, Defense Minister

"The outpost has been destroyed and rebuilt dozens of times. Homes have sometimes been destroyed in the middle of the night, and on at least one occasion, residents say, an Arab demolition crew stole valuables.

However, they said Saturday night, never before have police carried out a demolition on the Sabbath."

Arutz7

The Land of Israel and the Jew ... Vaeschanan

Yosef ... Moses

The Torah describes: Moses was an "Egyptian man" (disguised in egyptian clothes) and Yosef was a "Hebrew Man, and a Hebrew Slave"

"He who acknowledged his land, will be buried in the land; he who did not acknowledge his land, will not be buried in the land. Joseph acknowledged the land; Moses did not." G-d's reply in Midrash Rabah Devarim.

Israel for the Jew is not merely a nationality; it is the home of the Jewish inner consciousness: The Jewish soul is rooted in the energy vibrating in the atmosphere of Eretz Israel.

Please read this wonderful and moving essay by Yosef Y. Jacobson, entitled Ashamed To Defend Their Home - Why Moses was Denied Entry into the Holy Land, at at the yeshiva.net


To me, Yosef represents the Jews over thousands of years in alien lands yearning to return but were prevented, including those who were and are trapped in history in need of Moshiach to bring them Home!

Shabbat Shalom

Twelve Weeks of Waiting and Watching ...

“If I were an Iranian, I would be very fearful of the next 12 weeks,” said ... a former chief of Israel’s intelligence agency and national security adviser.

12 Weeks takes us to the vacinity of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan.

What could be special about Cheshvan in the Geulah scenario?

Could he be off a few weeks; perhaps he meant November?

But November 7 is still in Chodesh Cheshvan.

Source: NYT: U.S. and Israel Intensify Talks on Iran Options

..................................................

The decision whether to attack Iran will be taken by the country’s elected political leadership, and not by the defense and security establishment, said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. "Netanyahu’s comments followed a front page headline in Tuesday’s Yediot Aharonot saying that the US administration believes Israel’s top military and intelligence brass – [...] Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) [...] – are all opposed to an Israeli attack without US backing."

But, peering into the spaces between the above words, it sounds like Netanyahu already could have already worked this out with the US President.

BILAAM CURSES ISRAEL !

Annihilate Israel, Axis of Power

The curse that turns into a blessing

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmad..... (er Haman) once again called for the annihilation of Israel,

“the axis of unity of the world

hegemonic powers.”

(source: Arutz 7)