...is that today, the day we were alerted that Iran is attacking us, is FRIDAY THE 13TH.
Not only that, today's date, June 13, is numerically written as 6/13 (at least in the US).
Remind anyone of anything?
For many of the nations of the world, Friday the 13th is an inauspicious day. An unlucky day. (Other numbers are said to take on this role, for example some of the lands of the Far East have a different number. But, today I'm focusing on 13.)
For Jews, however, especially appreciated by those who speak Hebrew and are aware of gematria, 13 is a particularly auspicious day. Very positive words in Hebrew add up to 13:
Love — ahava — אהבה
One — echad — אחד
God (the unpronounced name) is double-13, or 26. יהוה
And yet another layer: 613 is the number of mitzvoth in the Torah. Whatever we can take on today, we should do now. Shabbat is upon us, for a start, even if we have to keep it in our shelters.
IRAN, YOU MADE A BIG MISTAKE IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE WORLD.
YOU ARE ATTACKING GOD as well as the JEWS.
LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU.
***
Shabbat shalom umevorach to all the Jews of the world, and a great weekend to all the people who love God enough to love His people too.
*** *Thanks to a neighbor in my neighborhood for the heads-up about the 6 in 613. Another neighbor advises that the alternate way to write the date, 13/6, is also auspicious; it refers to the Hebrew words ביד חזקה (b'yad hazakah, with a strong hand...).
***UPDATE***
24/6/2025/28 Sivan 5785: The peace declared today lacks, at least the following:
Civilians were killed on 24 June (4 according to Israel HaYom, Jerusalem Post) in Beersheva while sleeping in their beds. We hadn't even buried them yet, nor found those buried under the rubble, whether in Beersheva whether dead or alive, just before the ceasefire. The point here is that, even though it was before the ceasefire was to start, THE VICTIMS WERE CIVILIANS. Only one of those killed in Beersheva was a soldier. The rest were CIVILIANS, in every sense of the word; to target them is a war crime!
WHERE ARE OUR HOSTAGES??? ARE THEY HOME YET???President Trump, did you forget that HAMAS is a proxy of IRAN??? Did you forget that "October Seventh," still ongoing, is the responsibility of IRAN??? Considering that we are expected to have and maintain a full peace, don't you think this is an important thing to have resolved? If the US experienced anything like we Israelis did, would you expect a mediator to neglect the issue of your people trapped behind enemy lines?
***
We must not forget to put our trust ONLY IN GOD, and only give HIM credit for our victories, whenever and however they come. For the above reasons and more, I believe we're still not done with the Iranian shadow, and possibly other shadows, over us.
This video from some time ago gives all of us a clue on how to understand how to treat our enemies. Dr. Anjuli Pandavar, ex-Muslim and retired college professor, said, at that time, this was "a great start" on Israel's part. We could do more. Much more.
***
It's not Zionism, at least according to the plain definition, the obvious application being to, and about, Zion, which is synonymous with Jerusalem. See HERE for more on that. It's STATISM, as applied to all the other countries of the earth; in this case, to the Jewish state.
I wonder, is it just my wild-and-crazy imagination, or is "Zionism," according to our governance system, actually meant to invite disgrace upon our Holy Land, and especially its capital?
***
My post from back in February 2025 suggested that we think about the Kingdom that is the nation of Israel's native governance. I can hear the laughter now, from far, far away and long, long ago...
...because we haven't had any resemblance to a real Jewish Kingdom for a couple thousand years; and the one we had back then was corrupt, and therefore disgraceful. In the 21st century of the 'common era' we find ourselves in, we might have a clue if we lived in the British Isles, or one of the other nations, small or large, that has any type of monarchy (a list of the various kinds can be found HERE). Only a clue, however, because we'd actually have to read our Tana"ch (the Jewish canonized scriptures that don't include the Xian ones or any others) and find the many passages that describe it (or use an artificially 'intelligent' program to find them, which I do not prefer.).
But since the way it is presented to us in the current State of Israel, a so-called democracy since 1948 CE, we would find it hard to imagine what living under the properly Jewish monarchy would be like. After all, democracy, at least as I as a former American understand it and heard it recently, essentially means each of us is our own royalty. This means, if going by results means anything, that evil royalty versus good royalty could end up making the whole country subject to evil leadership, and therefore, become evil. The American founding fathers warned the world about this in their day.
Apparently, Israelis are not nearly as free as we think we are. Consider Rabbi Michoel Green's new series on Zionism (the series intro begins HERE). No one who lives in a democracy — or any other form of government — really enjoys freedom, according to Rabbi Green. See part 1: Conspiracy of Modern Statism and part 2: The Lie of Zionism. The rest, you can read on your own, either by free or paid subscription. There are many parts to it.).
I wrote the first draft of this post during the day the Bibas family was brought back in coffins: Thursday, 20 February 2025 (22 Shevat 5785). I didn't cry because I had gone into cold anger. The way the whole presentation of the coffins was done — I didn't watch the videos or other media that displayed it, but I heard about it — makes me wonder whether our enemy (Hamas is the tip of the iceberg, so to speak; the whole Muslim world is our enemy; I mention dhimmitude in my writings sometimes, but the Muslims were past that many years ago, and want us all dead...) thinks that the most manipulable people in our country are the leftist supporters of the system we live under; they would be correct. But the fact that their counterparts in the government are the de facto rulers here makes us all the more vulnerable.
At least one person, writing on Arutz Sheva, recognizes this and is able to write about it clearly. I would say, watch for more like that.
Israelis remember when, just before this war began, there were protests in parts of the country against judicial reform. So, it seems, not only did they give our enemies the impression that we were vulnerable, ripe for the picking; but they also find us vulnerable enough that when the hostages' families protest openly, few oppose them. (One of these groups doesn't protest against our government, however. The Tikvah Hostages' Families Forum (ENG) addresses the correct parties, Ham-ass and the rest of the enemy entities. See a good example HERE of why I wish the mainstream media here would focus on them, rather than the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which focuses the blame on Israel and thus weakens us.)
I hear all the groups' pleas and their cry; however, they aren't the only ones suffering. How about the fallen soldiers whose families are mourning, the injured, whose families are with them in their pain and loss of limbs? How about the people who are driven from their homes from the periphery?
And how about the baby who was born from his shot-to-death mother as SHE WAS IN LABOR. He died two weeks later. How many of these have we not heard about? Search for Ravid Haim ben Tze'ela.
I would like to be with all of that. However, being openly vulnerable in a time like this is just making things harder for the whole country, making it harder to win.
Perhaps this latest offensive, Gideon's Chariots, will be our last chance? I hope not...Gideon (Gid'on) wasn't allowed to have chariots in his own time; now, we have at least their equivalent, be"H.
Just in case some readers still think that the government oppresses the judicial system here, I would like to disabuse you of that notion: For the past 30 years it has been the other way around. When was the last time you read or heard in any news source about the Knesset passing any laws without having the Israeli Supreme Court (in those days, translated the High Court of Justice) annul them?
In Israel, it seems as though the governance system
(including all branches, but especially the unelected portion of them) calls itself a democracy, but acts like a dictatorship that favors a
certain group over all the others. (Ironically, it was mostly people from this very group that was targeted on "OCTOBER SEVENTH." Fortunately, some of the hostages, that we know of, got the message and are passing it on to others.)
What is referred to
as "the government" consists of those who are elected — the legislative and executive branches, while the judiciary, which appoints its own replacements, is its own branch.
Furthermore, it appears that the elected branches have no power over this one whatsoever, making it impossible to stop the judiciary from overreach. Even coming up with a way to stop this overreach can be annulled, as we just saw. As Jonathan S. Tobin (JNS) summed up in this article (emphasis mine):
Israel’s legal problems stem from a judicial revolution that began in
the last 30 years under the aegis of former Supreme Court President
Aharon Barak. He arrogated to the judiciary almost unlimited powers to
overturn virtually any measure undertaken by the country’s government.
Rather than defending a stable system of checks and balances, Barak’s
judicial revolution created a system in which there is no check on the
court, giving its permanent liberal majority the ability to override
governmental decisions...
Chaos followed as an anti-Netanyahu “resistance” took to the streets to
prevent any change. Though it was presented to the world as an effort to
save democracy, the truth was just the opposite. The goal of the
demonstrators was to prevent democratically elected governments with
which they disagreed from being able to truly rule.
This includes passing laws that would strengthen the stability of the citizenry and the Land itself. Only now, when even the army and the judiciary find themselves within easy reach of our enemies, are the elected branches able to reach out for parts of our land that anyone with a Tana"ch, Bible or Quran in their hand can verify is ours to begin with.
It would seem that the best way to ensure that law gets enforced is...to enforce it. But since the people running "the system" don't like what our law is meant to be, we-the-people aren't allowed to decide what to enforce and what not to enforce.
I sympathize with anyone who really can't imagine what living in the Biblical vision of The Kingdom would be like. I have been working with myself for a long time to even accept the idea, since I have been neither a subject nor a citizen of even a modern kingdom at all. However, I think it's pretty obvious by now that to keep things as they are, or even try to improve them while staying in "demockracy" mode, will leave us far from solving our multitude of problems. Participating in elections that end up with us running in place, almost constantly under fire again and again and again ad nauseam, is not a good thing.
An improperly-run kingdom, as occurred after King Solomon's time, isn't the answer either. That's why we need to make sure it's the real Biblical one, with Biblically-mandated leadership and proper supervision to insure proper fulfillment.
Maybe that's why the post was delayed until the weekend before Shavuot, when we once again have the opportunity to understand what our nation is all about?
Here's an interesting article that just might give us a good clue about whether or not our current system is serious about solving problems...or are they more interested in political manipulation?
Shabbat shalom; and may our upcoming Shavuot bring us understanding and merit!
There was an incident in the desert where the son of a Hebrew woman and an Egyptian man was rejected from the tents of what he thought was his tribe, Dan. It turns out that this is the precedent for ordinary Jews as well as the tribes of Levi and Yehuda for the father determining the tribe: If the father is not a Jew, the offspring between him and the Jewish mother do not have a tribe. The son turned and blasphemed God, using the Name we don't pronounce, and then, after He was consulted by Moshe, he was punished with death by stoning.
Part of the geula process is the resolving of questions that come up as part of its anticipation. Even though I most likely haven't come up with an answer to the following question, I hope people to whom it applies will begin to think about it.
How do we deal with Jews who have no Jewish fathers with regard to living in the Land?
(A warning to the many, many American Jews (and perhaps among those from other countries as well?) who have non-Jewish fathers, like the one in this Torah portion. Please, don't curse God for your situation. It won't turn out well even if you are not put on trial and sentenced with a bunch of rocks thrown at you until you die. This is what the Talmud and many other books have been all about: Figuring out what to do when we all finally get back together again, with precedents for many, many situations. Even sticky ones like yours.
It's not your fault. It might have turned out differently for ben Shlomit bat Dibri (the young man above), had he prayed and asked for an answer, instead of insulting Him. You have the chance to do better than he. It would be best to start with your Local Orthodox Rabbi. Hopefully, if he doesn't have an answer for you, he might know one or more halachic authorities who have thought about it in advance of the day when it will be urgent to know what to do.)
My perspective (please don't take this thought like halacha, since I am no authority): During the times we've been living in since at least the last century or so, many women seem to have found it challenging just to give birth to Jews, never mind finding a Jewish husband. I have read articles that explain why many Jewish men didn't want to marry a Jewish woman. Either way, problems result that may seem to have no consequence now, but will later on...especially since we are expecting the Great Redemption shortly with God's help, given that all the other times previously have not been witnessed globally, in real time, like the aftermath of the Massacre of October Seventh, 2023. Remember that it was also Simchat Torah 5784, bringing forth a mostly negative global response against the Jews of the Gaza Envelope and the rest of Israel as well, rather than against their attackers, murderers and kidnappers.
The solution to this difficulty would seem to be a challenging one, to say the least. I would like to see it solved so that those who find themselves in that position through no fault of their own would be able to dwell with their people Israel in our Holy Land, even if not among the tribe of their mother. In my experience, those children whose father is Jewish and their mother, not so, can convert, and they will have a tribe and likely would be able to live among their tribe. Even though if their father is a Kohen they will not be able to inherit that part of it, so wouldn't be able to participate as a Kohen, conversion would make them Jewish.
I wish my readers a happy La"G laOmer and Shabbat Shalom!
