15 January 2017

First, throw all the bums out!

17 Tevet 5777

BS"D

Note the Jewish star (blue) and the Xian cross (red) embedded in the green cage. Is this picture worth 1,000 words, or what? Source


As the 70 nations meet today in Paris (we in Yerushalayim are still, and always, an hour ahead of them, so I might still be ahead - I started writing this before Shabbat!), I must clear up some things I said in my last post. Even though no one wrote to tell me, I do have my own reasons for thinking that some might actually think I am saying something I'm not.

When I wrote, "we must be actively happy for [the nations'] material success," I assumed it would be understood that I meant this success would occur in their own lives, having to do with people going about their business and doing well in it. The context I am thinking of, as well, is that others would reciprocate, and l'fargen us, while leaving us alone to mind our own business; and they, theirs. That would be in a functional world.

Unfortunately, we do not live in a functional world. Reality dashes my happy thoughts and tells me that today (on the Jewish calendar), a highly symbolic number of nations, with lots of support from their people, is meeting (maybe this minute, as I finish up) in Paris. They really do not regard Israel well in a truly dysfunctional way, and have put a lot of thought into how they would say it so that we would be deceived as to what their goals are. However, we can read the bottom line: As one sign I saw put it, "Israel, your days are numbered." While it seems that they are demanding on both sides of the "Palestinian"-Israeli divide, actually they have gone out of their way to bind, gag and even strangle Israel to death.

Only G-d can save us now. He promised us He would, and He will. The only question is how.

Even though the US presidency is in the process of transition, I personally have no hope in it. I met the gentleman in charge of Trump's campaign here in Israel last week and spoke with him. He said that Trump plans to give Gaza to Egypt. I said, "NO! You can't do that!" -Why not? -"Because only the Jews can grow food there. The Arabs still can't; that's why we ship food to them on a daily basis. That's the sign of Geula Shleimah [complete redemption], the desert blossoms as a havatzelet1!" His wife agreed with me. We'll see what happens. I hope that Mr. Trump can even begin to understand where Israel stands, even though when you get two Jews together, you get three opinions, as the saying goes. He might want to benefit from Joe Biden's experience, as former senator of Delaware. But then again, it might just confuse him more. A more salient direction for Mr. Trump would be to take another look at everything he has ever heard and read about the Bible and the Jews. Start over, is more like it.

As a matter of fact, this is exactly what the world takes advantage of, and what made the Paris conference possible. Too many Jews, particularly in leadership, whether heads of JCCs in foreign lands or here at home in government positions, do not take our sovereignty, or our right to it, seriously; and it shows in the decisions that are made in our name. The Oslo Accords in 1993 and giving up Gush Katif almost 12 years ago come to mind. So does the current proposal to declare sovereignty only in Area C, even as our presence in all of Yehuda and the Shomron is being threatened. Are we not aware that our presence in all of Israel is next?


We also must remember — and not forget — the most important "element": the Creator of the Universe, who gave us this land in the first place. It is not by our strength alone, or even at all. When we act on behalf of our homeland, and thus ourselves, we must come from a place of choosing to follow HaShem's will. Otherwise it is in vain - see Psalm 127; it is as true now as it was when David haMelekh wrote it for his son, Shlomo.

Maybe the conference will flop. Maybe the sky will fall in on them (with G-d's help, may it be so!). But we won't know until it's over. One thing we must do, whether they succeed or fail: Disregard and, if we can, throw out the bums in our leadership who support capitulation to the nations, and the organizations that work tirelessly toward our surrender. There will still be plenty of people left in Israel to have a country. No matter how much they have threatened us that they will leave, just let them go.

B'Tselem, Peace Now, and J Street must go; Meretz and Labor (or whatever its latest new name is and ally(ies) is (are)) must go. Leave Israel...and take the other Israel-hating NGOs and supporters with you! None of your organizations and their lackeys have to be here if they don't like being in a country that specifically protects the Jewish Nation for its own sake. We do it because it is no one else's job, but G-d's will that we take our part in our own care; it's as simple as that. We don't need you to tell us how to do our job. No more videos with the sound turned off! That's blatant cheating, and it has already led to disaster, thanks to B'Tselem.


It is up to the Hebrew people of my beloved country to decide to say, NO MORE. If we want to have anything to hand to Mashiach when he is revealed and crowned, we must get rid of the enemy within our midst before getting rid of the terrorists and their supporters among the Arabs. Or, maybe they can all go together.

I have always found it odd that davka the Ashkenazim who have ruled our country since before its beginning really have never had any idea of the Arab mindset, treating them as though they were Xians (which some of them are, but most, including the leadership with the occasional exception, are Muslim these days. Even their Xianity is informed by their Arabic culture as well...) and not knowing what dhimmitude is; this is how we have arrived at the place where we are under national dhimmitude along with the European nations!

Never mind that they have Jewish mothers and are Israeli citizens. They avidly serve outside interests, and those interests are that Israel no longer be a country, nor the Jews a nation. Since they fail to identify with the suffering of their own, they don't deserve to participate in our glorious future.

Let the two-state solution die the ignominious death it so richly deserves. I hope this is more likely to be the outcome.

See the following psukim: Tehillim 83 תהילים פ"ג | Yehezkel 36 יחזקאל ל"ו | Yehezkel 37 יחזקאל ל"ז



1Mostly translated as "rose," havatzelet is its own flower. See this post.


10 January 2017

An "I've found it!" moment?

12 Tevet 5777

I hope I'm presenting a real gem today! Credit

The day after Tzom Asarah b'Tevet (the sunup-to-sundown fast of the 10th of Tevet) I listened to a video (see below) by Rav Alon Anava, "The Secret to Bring Mashiach," and I found a gem in there even he might not have anticipated: The main thing we as a people must do to: 1) make teshuva appropriate to that fast and 2) create unity among the people. Many thanks to Shirat Devorah for posting it first (as far as I know).

R' Anava laid it out clearly enough at the personal level (starting at 21:10 minutes in), but that was enough of a hint that, generalizing a specific point, made a lot of sense to this Israelit. What I derived is:

We, the Jewish People, must stop being envious of the nations of the world over the fact that they have more freedoms, less responsibility and fewer obligations in this life than we do; instead, we must be actively happy for their material success. Then, we must go on with our national life and mission according to Torah.

If you think this is too elementary and well-known, you need read no further. It will only bore you. The rest may continue.

On the personal level he said that I need to stop being envious over my friend's husband's income-earning ability, her house, children, job, clothing...whatever, and actually l'fargen her (to actively be happy for her success and possessions, from Yiddish — I'm applying what he said to myself, not quoting the Rav.). But I realized that the reason we are stuck with the lousy government we have in Israel, that favors the Gentiles (Muslims and Christians alike) among us over us Jews — among many, many other things — is because we ourselves as a people have a giant root of envy that even affects the best tzaddikim and tzaddikayot among us, even if they have conquered it; and it is an Erev Rav trait that connects us to the evil people and deeds among the nations in a negative way, causing us to have all kinds of mixed feelings about them, obsess endlessly over what they think of us and even be brought all-too-close to the suffering we wish were not ours to bear. We wish we were not always obligated to pray three times a day, study Torah, make aliyah to a land we must work on in order to make it grow (not to mention have tiny apartments for outrageous prices while Arabs build entire mansions freely even though it's supposedly illegal...and so on), being picked on and sought out for genocide...and it could go on forever! We should l'fargen them and then go on with our mission.

We all must do our part to conquer it, from the greatest to the least religious among us...any Jew who thinks it has nothing to do with him or her.


I remember reading an article (sorry, can't find a link to it) some years ago featuring a yeshiva student who had found out that he was not a Jew after all. It was his decision to stay and become a Jew or leave and live out the rest of his life as a non-Jew. He decided the latter. All the rest of the class looked at him with obvious enough envy that the moreh was prompted to take a raised-hand vote as to how many would follow after him if they could. Every hand was raised.

That teacher realized, right then, that something was very wrong with Jewish education.

On a personal level, I myself am a big ba'alath kin'ah, my first awareness of it being when I was about 5 or 6 years old, watching Romper Room on TV (yes, I know I'm dating myself...) and hearing the names of children being read out over the air: I wanted to be one of them. And, how I wanted to look through that magic mirror!

I also underwent experiences that not many other children see, which I envied others for not having had. Don't try to guess what they were; I will not share them at this time, and I have also been spared some of the very worst a young girl can go through; so, for that, I am thankful: The main point is that I recognize envy in myself and what it did and does to me, and can see the connection between the desire for the love and respect of the nations and my own wish to be like other children (and now, women) around me.  Not having been raised in an observant home, I was not aware of Judaism as I am today, so the anti-Semitism I found as a child was totally inexplicable; and I wanted so badly NOT to be a Jew because of it. It took me many years to fully understand why I should thank G-d for making me a Jew!

The main takeaway today is: Even, and especially, the most precious, beautiful jewel requires careful and skillful cutting and polishing. Take too much off, and it won't be so precious or unusually beautiful; take too little off and you won't see its brilliance or appreciate its color spectrum. It could also be that our eyes are insufficient, may G-d help us, to completely appreciate a perfectly beautiful stone!

I'm adding the two shiurim from R' Sprecher that I attended on Asarah b'Tevet as well as R' Anava's video. Maybe one of my readers or fellow bloggers will garner for him/herself a gem like this one!




May we finally, finally, FINALLY merit to receive Mashiach, annihilate Amalek and see the Beit haMiqdash this year, speedily and in our days! Amen!!!


04 January 2017

From the river to the sea, Eretz Yisrael will be free!

6 Tevet 5777
BS"D


This little gem fell into my hands maybe 2 months ago. Who knew?


Nahalah (Inheritance/Heritage) raises money, rather like the Jewish National Fund used to (shame on them now!), to build the Land of Israel and I happened (only from HaShem) to get the winning lottery number.  Now I'm sharing. ;)

The Jewish nation must not let the battle lines be drawn for us — or worse yet, let ourselves be put like fish in a barrel, to be shot to death at the whim of the whole world.

And for those who live outside Israel, don't think that just because you don't live here that it won't affect you. We are one people whether you like it or not, and you will share our fate whether good or bad. The Tana"kh assures us of a good future in the end; the decision is yours alone whether you want to contribute to it and be part of it, or not. With G-d's help, and only thus, will we succeed together.

The United Nations is certainly not taking half-measures with half a heart against us. They want to make sure that we Jews get put down like the dogs they aggress (I feel the words "assert" and "say" are not strong enough) we are. This is no "micro-aggression," as college students call it these days. It is a full-on attempt at a knock-out punch to the gut and a stab to the head and heart. I, for one, firmly believe that murder — a final Holocaust — is in their minds and in their hearts. The sustained applause at the end of the declaration of UNSC Resolution 2334 tells us nothing less. We must put the kibosh on this resolution before it gets turned into a binding document. That's next, don't you know!

From the greatest among us to the least, as one we must reply precisely in kind; nothing less will do. We cannot just annex Ma'aleh Adumim, but must take the whole thing in one fell swoop. The teshuvah will do us good in the long run. Anyway, we now have no choice in the matter.

With G-d's Help: From the river to the sea, Eretz Yisrael will be freed for us!  The Jewish people had light, joy, gladness and great importance - let us have it too, Abba!
בע"ה: מהירדן עד הים בארץ ישראל ישוחררו אלינו! ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ועיקר - כן תהיה לנו, אבא!


More reading:
JPOST: Cognitive bias and USNC Resolution 2334 | Institute for National Security Studies: Security Council Resolution 2334: The Legal Significance | The Globe and Mail: Ignore the political theatre, Resolution 2334 has global support | The Algemeiner: Resolution 2334 and the Feral Pack | Evelyn C. Gordon: The UN Vote Mocks the Law and Build, Baby, Build | Abu Yehuda: The "international community" and its Israel problem and Q&A about UN Security Council Res. 2334 | Relevant Excerpts from The Hamas Covenant and the PLO Charter for comparison to Res. 2334 | Women in Green: 2017: Year of Jewish National Consciousness |