Showing posts with label guest post. Show all posts

11 August 2024

Rav Eli J. Mansour: Parashat Debarim — Building the "Bridge" to Redemption

7 Menahem Av 5784 | ז' מנחם אב ה'תשפ"ד

The original d'var Torah by Rav Mansour was posted in time prior to SHABBAT DEBARIM 5784.
Take the Temple Institute Illustrated Tour of the Holy Temple HERE.

(Holy Temple = Bet Ha'mikdash)

***

On Tisha B'Ab, as we know, we observe a fast and mourn the destruction of the Bet Ha'mikdash. Although this calamity occurred many generations after the Torah was given, nevertheless, the day of Tisha B'Ab – like everything else – has a source in the Torah.

This source is revealed to us by the Zohar, in Parashat Vayishlach, where it teaches that the 365 days of the solar year correspond to the 365 Misvot Lo Ta'aseh – prohibitions introduced by the Torah. Each day of the solar calendar is associated with a different Biblical prohibition. And the day of Tisha B'Ab, the Zohar writes, corresponds to the prohibition of "Gid Ha'nasheh," which forbids partaking of a certain sinew of animals. This prohibition commemorates the incident that occurred when Yaakob Abinu was on his way back to Eretz Yisrael after having spent twenty years with his uncle. On the night before he crossed the river into the Land of Israel, he was attacked by a mysterious assailant, identified by the Sages as the Satan, the angel of Esav. Yaakob ultimately prevailed, but suffered an injury in his Gid Ha'nasheh. In commemoration of this struggle, we refrain from eating the Gid Ha'nasheh of animals. The Zohar teaches us that this prohibition corresponds with Tisha B'Ab. Just as this command requires us to refrain from eating something to commemorate a foreigner's attack that caused Yaakob a painful injury, on Tisha B'Ab we refrain from eating to commemorate the pain and suffering caused by our enemies on this day.

The Hatam Sofer (Rav Moshe Sofer, Pressburg, 1762-1839) develops the Zohar's teaching further, establishing that this fight between Yaakob and Esav's angel actually took place on the night of Tisha B'Ab. That night set the precedent for what would happen many centuries later, when, like then, our enemy would come and deal a painful blow.

If so, then we can perhaps understand an otherwise peculiar aspect of the Torah's description of the events of that night when the angel attacked Yaakob.

The Torah relates that on this night, Yaakob brought all his belongings across the river, to the other side ("Va'ya'aber Et Asher Lo" – Bereshit 32:24). Afterward, he was left alone on his side, and he came under attack. Rashi explains this verse to mean, "He made himself like a bridge, taking from here and placing it here." We must wonder, why is this important? Why did the Torah find it necessary to inform us that Yaakob formed a "bridge" over the river, bringing his possessions from one side to the next?

The answer is that this "bridge" is the secret for how we defeat "Esav" and recover from the destruction and exile that he brings upon us. In Yaakob's famous dream, he saw a ladder extending from the ground – from the site of the Bet Ha'mikdash – to the heavens. This is what the Bet Ha'mikdash represents – connecting the earth to the heavens, infusing our physical world and our physical reality with sanctity, with spiritual meaning. Offering an animal as a sacrifice means taking a physical entity and making it sacred, which is precisely the way we are supposed to live. This is what the Bet Ha'mikdash represented, and this is the symbolic meaning of Yaakob forming a "bridge" for his material possessions. When he brought his assets across the river to Eretz Yisrael, he was showing us what religious life means – infusing our physical, worldly existence with holiness. This is the significance of Yaakob's "bridge" – bridging the gap between heaven and earth, between the sacred and the mundane, between the spiritual and the physical.

On that night of Tisha B'Ab, which established this occasion as a time of exile, suffering and calamity, Yaakob showed us how we can bring an end to our troubles and earn redemption. In order to be worthy of the Bet Ha'mikdash, we need to work to make this connection between heaven and earth, between our physical reality and Kedusha. We need to infuse our mundane activities with spiritual meaning, by directing everything we do toward Torah and Misvot. We do this by going about all our activities in strict adherence to Halacha, and by devoting time and resources for sacred purposes. By elevating our worldly existence, and injecting it with holiness, we form the "bridge" that will lead us to the rebuilding of the Bet Ha'mikdash, speedily and in our times, Amen.

***

May haShem bring this about with all due speed; may the upcoming Tisha b'Av become a feast day before our very eyes!

***

14 January 2024

Former Prison Director Shatters Lies Regarding Terrorists...and Intensification of Terror against Jews — guest post by Myrtle Rising

4 Shevat 5784 | ד' שבט ה'תשפ"ד

Blogger's note: Used by permission.

The full title of this (very recent at this writing) guest post by Myrtle Rising is:

Former Prison Director Betty Lahat Shatters the Lies Fed to Us regarding Terrorists, Prisoner Conditions for Terrorists, Humanitarian Assistance, and the Complicity of the Media and Officials in the Intensification of Terror against Jews

She also wrote a post prior to this one about...well, I'll include Myrtle's own introductory words on this:

"...a particularly shocking excerpt about the whole Shalit episode from Moran Corse's larger interview with former director of Israeli prisons, Betty Lahat:
myrtlerising.weebly.com/blog/the-truth-behind-the-5-year-shalit-phase-release-exchange-plus-who-really-called-the-shots-during-that-time-you-wont-believe-who-to-what-extent

What follows now is a summary of the rest of the interview, in Hebrew for women only:
https://www.hidabroot.org/article/1189663

It's quite illuminating as Betty has inside information she saw and heard first-hand.

Please prepare yourself for a lot of ugly shockers."

Let this sink in before reading the body of the post. My comments follow. —HDG

The General Perks for Terrorists in Israeli Prisons, Plus Their Usual Menus

Betty describes prison for terrorists as "a warm, safe place" with the following perks:

decent meals
a rich & varied canteen to supplement their decent meals
time outside for fresh air and exercise
free high-quality health care (including life-saving complex surgery in Israeli hospitals)
free dental care
free studies
access to terror-supporting "lawyers" (who really act as agents for the terrorists to pass on orders and plots for further terror)
access to cable TV with a wide variety of channels

Their day starts with breakfast and access to canteens, where the PA (Palestinian Authority) deposits money for them.

(And they don't just support the actual terrorists. Terrorists' families also receive financial support from the PA. The more blood a terrorist has on his hands, the more financial support his family receives.)

How is this money transferred to the terrorists in prison?

Why, via Bank HaDoar, of course!

Every terrorist holds an account in Bank HaDoar (Israel Postal Bank). That's where the PA deposits money for the terrorists to enjoy canteen, studies, and books.

The prison canteen holds a rich and varied selection meant to improve the food options in prison.

Their standard fare resembles standard army food, only even better than that.

Terrorists also enjoy cooking platters inside their cells, which is how they improve their meals even more.

Why do terrorists responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of Jews enjoy better meals than Israeli soldiers?

Why can't these terrorists at least subsist on the dogfood-like meals Yehonatan Pollard received in his initial maximum security prison?

Especially since Betty claims the mere fact we try to prove ourselves as more humane and nicer doesn't work — but produces the opposite effect:

With all the improved conditions we gave them, they despise us, they smirk at us, they laugh at us.

[Sinwar] even stated, "This is your duty."

Leftist Media + Barbaric Terrorists = Lots of Brutalized or Dead Jews

As mentioned, the terrorists enjoy access to cable TV with tons of channels.

Chillingly, Betty saw the terrorists often watch Israeli TV in order to understand the nation's mood and to analyze how to proceed with their own interests.

They know all the political pundits, policy makers, and security officials by name.

She says they do all this because they understand our "weak" points, that we are "rachmanim bnei rachmanim — compassionate people who are the scions of compassionate people."

She says of Sinwar:

He prepared himself for years in prison.

He didn't rest for a moment. He established gangs within the prisons, which were meant to battle against us in the future.

And that's what we're seeing. That's what's happening today.

Most of his headquarters employ those same people he worked to free in the last deal.

With the exception of Channel 14, the Israeli news outlets lean Left and hold powerful sway over the weak-minded, more materialism-oriented, Torah-ignorant minds in Israel (which is how the media cultivates the Left-wing bloc; the Israeli Right tends to attract stronger minds and encompasses religious Jewry, a highly Torah-educated bloc).

According to Betty, the Left-leaning media played right into the hands of the terrorists, revealing weak spots and ways to manipulate the Israeli public.

As Betty notes:

...all those disagreements and advice we give via the media – these hurt us in the end.

For they enable them to understand where our weak points lie.

It was these imprisoned terrorists who helped orchestrate the demonstrations & negotiations from inside in favor of Gilad Shalit, knowing their day of liberation would coincide with Shalit's day of liberation.

Out of those 1200 terrorists freed, 41 had murdered 570 Jews.

The terrorist leaders chose exactly which ones one by one and chose the most lethal ones — with the full knowledge of the Israeli authorities. (Betty protested this — along with a whole lot of other deadly policies — but was constantly overruled.)

Sinwar himself helped the Israeli authorities decide which terrorists will be released.

Yeah — the guy who orchestrated the Barbaric Horror against the Jewish communities near the Gazan border. HE got to pick which one his men would get released.

As Betty asserts:

Our officials, flesh of our flesh, come to build up his leadership in order to release him and to appoint him to be the substitute of the Holocaust denier, Abu Mazen.

At least 2 of those released terrorists directly involved themselves in the orchestration and execution of the Great Slaughter.

These released terrorists didn't stay in Israel and Gaza. They went to Syria, Turkey, and Qatar to continue their terrorist strategies such as organizing terror groups to attack Jews worldwide.

So even a terror attack against Jews halfway across the world can possibly be traced back to the Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011 — and the complicity of most Israeli newscasters (except Channel 14) and certain Israeli authorities who oversaw the exchange.

She claims that just as with Gilad Shalit, terrorists are still controlling the process with the current hostage situation.

Mighty Martyr for Allah or Big Crybaby Bunny? You Decide!

Betty interacted directly with Sinwar during the length of his prison "holiday."

She remembers when cancer developed near his brain stem — and she recalls how Medinat Yisrael strove to save his life, providing him with top-notch hospital care and expensive complex surgery to remove the cancer.

Betty destroys the popular notion of these "fearless martyrs for Allah" who hold no fear of death:

No, they are afraid of death...Yahya Sinwar is obsessed with his own life.

And he's just a big crybaby bunny.

I saw him when he broke down when he knew he had cancer, how he cried – like a spineless weakling, he sobbed.

Good to know.

I also love her description of him as a "crybaby bunny — shafan bachyan."

Maybe that's how I'll refer to him in future posts, rather than his name.

(If I post about him, that is. When I mention him, I feel the same as when I talk about maggots.)

And for a host of reasons (including those mentioned above, about us being oh-so humane), it's a huge tragedy that they didn't let nature take its course and leave the sick sucker rot to death.

Why go to such extremes to preserve his pathetically evil life?

And who are the members of the medical team who agreed to participate in such a travesty?

(It could easily be they were never told the patient's name until after the operation. After all, there was a lot of manipulation going on. Perhaps the medical staff were victims of it too.)

Why "Humane" Prisons Don't Work for Terrorists

Betty also rips the façade off the "lawyer" visits.

Many terrorists are serving multiple life sentences. What do they need lawyers for? Is it helpful if the lawyer reduces 7 life sentences to 2 life sentences?

And the terrorists already enjoy far cushier conditions in Israeli prisons than terrorists deserve.

The lawyers can't ask for better treatment.

In general, these terrorists have no legal needs.

So what purpose do these "lawyers" serve?

Regarding these fake lawyer visits, Betty states:

This is something we screamed about for years and years.

But in our justice system — I don't know if you heard this name, Shai Nitzan, who was the State Prosecutor— we actually tried during his time to install procedures to curb their "rights" — both those of the lawyers and also regarding the conditions of their imprisonment, and so on.

But Medinat Yisrael is apparently — I say apparently because for us, it's exactly the opposite — it is apparently a country that is humane.

And it wants to enable the prisoners to thrive within prison and these aren't the right prisoners for that...

In contrast to her justifiably strong stand against comfortable conditions for terrorists, Betty is very in favor of rehabilitation for regular prisoners and sought to implement programs to achieve this goal when she worked with Jewish prisoners.

And she comes down hard against the much-bantered claim of: "The fact that you've taken their freedom is punishment enough."

They don't feel punished at all.

In fact, they view all the nicey-nice in Israeli prisons as affirmation of their terrorist beliefs!

As Betty asserts their view of all the prison comforts:

It's some kind of form of requesting forgiveness for having stolen their land from them.

And they don't believe in it.

With all the improved conditions we gave them, they despise us, they snicker at us, they laugh at us.

[Sinwar] even stated: "This is your duty."

Betty recalls when new & idealistic guy came to work at the prison; he wanted to engage in dialogue with the terrorists.

The militants told him outright that there would never be peace as long as the Jews live on "their" land, only hudna is possible.

"You guys need to turn over all the land [to us]," they said. "We need to be in charge or there will never be peace."

"Let's Not Transform Them into Such Great Heroes. They ARE Afraid – and They Want to Live."

What about the common claim of "Harsh conditions and death sentences provide no deterrent! They deal fine with harsh conditions and do not fear death!"

Based on her interactions with the terrorists, Betty absolutely disparages such claims:

No, they are afraid of death.

If Yahya Sinwar wasn't afraid, he would come out of his den, he would come outside...and anyone who tells you it's not so?

Yahya Sinwar is obsessed with his own life.

And he's just a big crybaby bunny.

I saw him when he broke down when he knew he had cancer, how he cried – like a spineless weakling, he sobbed.

So let's not transform them into such great heroes.

They ARE afraid – and they want to live.

They have their religious belief and their religious belief enables them to come and commit acts of murder and the like.

Betty explains how "Crybaby Bunny" operates in the background, sending others to carry out his blood-soaked dirty work, causing others to take the fall for his ideas and plots.

He carefully manipulates everything behind the scenes to protect his own life.

Everyone else can die — except him.

Another reason why the fact of curbing their freedom (which isn't much curbed as shown above) doesn't work revolves around how Arabs living outside remain well-aware of the comfy conditions within the prison because the prison allows the terrorist so many visitors (and not just the fake lawyers).

So what does Betty recommend for genuine deterrence?

Effective Recommendations to Deter Terror

She wants Israeli prisons to imitate the American prisons for terrorists — meaning, the terrorists remain locked in their cell all day and receive minimum food.

Interestingly, she emphasizes the importance of following the American prison model for terrorists, and not the Arab model (a far crueler model). I guess for the sake of the prison wardens, who could be damaged by following the cruel and inhumane Arab prison model.

Yet Betty emphasizes the death penalty isn't the only deterrence. Heavy punishments and much harsher prisons can make a huge difference.

(At the very least, prisons can prevent imprisoned terrorists from orchestrating terrorism and manipulating Israeli society.)

She also recommends prisons to stop trying so hard to change the terrorists' ideology.

She adds:

We must carry out the death penalty to all the terrorists who enter.

And to whoever says, "That doesn't deter; after all, they commit suicide terror" – it DOES deter!

And oh, how it does deter them!

Where Lies the Root of All This Evil?

But why are Israeli authorities so blind to all this?

Why does the majority of the media, the top-ranking military leaders, the politicians, and other officials still push the false beliefs regarding deterrents and how to prevent the slaughter of Jews?

Why do they persist in pursuing "strategies" that clearly not only don't work, but make everything so much worse?

Moran Corse brought up the root of the evil: the Wexner Foundation (known in Hebrew as "Keren Vaksner"). She claims no one can advance to the top of Israeli society unless they attend courses at the Wexner Foundation.

Only familiar with the term and knowing nothing about Wexner, I listened avidly to Betty's description of how they influence Israeli society:

Every person who is an alumnus of the Wexner Foundation is an administrator in our army today and also in the security apparatus, the Shabak, the foreign ministry, the commanders in chief, and the entire upper echelon of the IDF.

Going into much more detail about it, Betty notes that all the "progression" and humanitarianism of the USA is brought over to Israel via Wexner:

Everyone thinks the same.

No one strives to win and destroy our enemy.

We carry out yet another military operation and yet another military operation, and we yet again concern ourselves with their subsistence and we say, "Well, if we don't give them parnasa, then they'll come and harm us."

We gave them parnasa.

Benet and Lapid raised the number of Gazans allowed entry into Israel for employment by tens of thousands.

And what happened?

Why did they come and slaughter us on Simchat Torah?

What happened?

It's intolerable that as we as a country bring our dead to burial every single day, we also nurture their murderers inside the prisons.

Needless to say, it's not as if the Israeli attendees are blind or brainwashed.

They attend these sessions fully aware of the goals behind the sessions.

The attendees do so out of greed for power — nothing more and nothing less.

Everyone understands the goals and the results.

It is simply a partnership between the Israeli Erev Rav and the American Erev Rav.

You cannot blame one without blaming the other.

Two of the Gazan Children Treated Wonderfully by Jews in Jewish Hospitals Grew into Terrorists who Murdered Jews

Even outside the prison, Betty saw how all the humanitarianism worked against the innocent citizens of Israel.

For example, Betty's young daughter of blessed memory suffered a battle against cancer, leading to her hospitalization in the children's ward of Schneider hospital.

Betty herself witnessed dedicated Jewish volunteers from Kibbutz Be'eri bring Gazan Arab children for treatment at Schneider.

Betty watched how they poured tons of love and warmth on their ill Muslim Gazan charges.

And later, Betty met 2 of those loved and cared for children as young men in the terrorist prison:

And those two who were cured there – they became terrorists.

They were arrested for acts of terror.

Does that even register in the rational mind?

How is that people who, as children, were treated with such warmth and compassion by Israeli Jews, who owe the very lives to the kindness and expertise of Israeli Jews, decided to murder Israeli Jews?

Friends of Betty, who work in the children's ward of a hospital, described to her how they see the Arabs who come for treatment go hide under the stairwell and burn Israeli flags.

Based on the above, Betty states:

I do not believe in their "innocent bystanders."

I hold no compassion for them.

"Whoever is Compassionate toward the Cruel will End Up being Cruel toward the Compassionate."

There are so many lies and truths revealed here, it's hard to summarize them properly.

Betty comes off as a wonderful, intelligent, and caring person. She did everything she could to deter terror and save lives.

(Tachlis, in Jewish prisons, she definitely guided the system toward rehabilitation, rather than punishment — because it worked. Most of the prisoners WANTED to improve themselves.)

But in some ways, the Israeli authorities handcuffed her more than the terrorists.

We need to pay close attention to her observations, garnered via years of experience.

And her experiences tragically reflect the age-old Torah dictum:

"Whoever is compassionate toward the cruel will end up being cruel toward the compassionate."

May Hashem shine the light of Geula on us all and bring the Geula speedily b'rachamim.

***

HDG: Amen to your b'racha, Myrtle. This whole article and its previous one describes Israel's prison system (if not the entire government, and if not the entire country, has"v) as displaying aspects of dhimmitude, the rule of Muslims over others, in my view. Here's a good description: The Dhimmitude of the West: A New Trajectory. How close to it are we, and how did we get anywhere near there?

Supposedly, dhimmitude was abolished in 1839 (in the Ottoman Empire, which the Holy Land, then known as "southern Syria" and "southern Palestine (this according to Wikipedia)," was part of until 1922. The title looks like Turkish to me, and Bat Ye'or never wrote anything about dhimmitude being limited to the Ottoman Empire. Muslims ruling anywhere use it.).

Is it a fulfillment of prophecy — the one that specifically says that Yishmael will rule over the Jews for nine months? Now that we're here, this would be the best scenario because we are in the third trimester of this "pregnancy" during a "pregnant" year, with two months of Adar.

Is this the real reason for the Gerush of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron in 2005? Did this start in 1990, when Aharon Barak came up with the "reasonableness" standard for the Supreme Court?

Or did it start after the 6-Day War? I remember clearly back in 1969, two years after the miraculous war, a comment on a newscast on how Jews couldn't just walk around in the newly reconquered territory of Yehuda and the Shomron without words from some "common tater" on the radio putting him down for it. A FULL TWO YEARS AFTER THE WAR.

Is this why the residents of Yehuda and the Shomron (Judea and Samaria) are under military rule all these years later, with the defenders' weaponry under the control of the army?

Was the Gaza Envelope in the same category as J&S, and we people behind the Green Line just didn't know it?

Is this why our government believes the words of Arabs over the words of Jews living in the Land of Israel — and why many Jews, especially those from the Shomron, an example being Amiram Ben Uliel, are behind bars for years for confessing their "crimes" under torture?

Is this why we are being charged at the International Court of Justice in The Hague as I'm writing this, with genocide of the very people who attempted it against us, and are still not finished with that?

Could all of the above be summarized in one word: DHIMMITUDE?

I could go on and on with my questions. But yesterday's haftarah, from Yehezkel (Ezekiel) 28, 25-26, foretells the end:

25 So says the Lord God: When I gather in the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, and I have been sanctified through them in the eyes of the nations, then shall they dwell on their land that I gave to My servant, to Jacob.		כה כֹּֽה־אָמַר֘ אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִה֒ בְּקַבְּצִ֣י \| אֶת־בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל מִן־הָֽעַמִּים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָפֹ֣צוּ בָ֔ם וְנִקְדַּ֥שְׁתִּי בָ֖ם לְעֵינֵ֣י הַגּוֹיִ֑ם וְיָֽשְׁבוּ֙ עַל־אַדְמָתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לְעַבְדִּ֥י לְיַֽעֲקֹֽב:
26 And they shall dwell upon it securely, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards and dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those who plunder them from all around them, and they shall know that I am the Lord their God."		כו וְיָֽשְׁב֣וּ עָלֶיהָ֘ לָבֶטַח֒ וּבָנ֚וּ בָתִּים֙ וְנָֽטְע֣וּ כְרָמִ֔ים וְיָֽשְׁב֖וּ לָבֶ֑טַח בַּֽעֲשׂוֹתִ֣י שְׁפָטִ֗ים בְּכֹ֨ל הַשָּׁאטִ֚ים אֹתָם֙ מִסְּבִ֣יבֹתָ֔ם וְיָ֣דְע֔וּ כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶֽם:

May it happen quickly, and may G-d take His rightful place as King of the World, with Mashiah as His faithful servant!!!

***

30 October 2023

Dear World: I Don't Care, by Avi Lewis

light of 17 Heshvan 5784 | אור י"ז חשון ה'תשפ"ד

Dear World: I Don't Care, by Avi Lewis.
Used with permission.

Dear World: I don't care

I don't care that you sympathize with Hamas

I know you wouldn't tolerate any of the things they did to us if they would've done it to you

I don't care that you're outraged by Israel's response to the massacre more than the massacre itself

I know you would do everything to eliminate such pure evil if you experienced it yourself

I don't care that this doesn't fit neatly into your carefully constructed narrative of 'Israel as aggressor' and 'Palestinian as victim'

The truth hurts sometimes, but hey, don't let the facts get in the way of your feelings

I don't care if you think we are at fault, that we had it coming, that Hamas' actions didn't occur in a vacuum (or to deny they ever happened)

If you feel that the poster of a kidnapped child hurts your cause, maybe yours is a lost cause

I don't care about your calls for a premature ceasefire, about your demand that we provide them with electricity, that we stop fighting for 'humanitarian reasons'

What of a humanitarian gesture to release our 230+ hostages — elderly, children, babies snatched from their cribs?

I don't care that you've rallied for Palestine as part of your march for LGBTQ rights, trans rights, workers' rights, socialism, climate change, intersectionality, Black Lives Matter, fighting Islamophobia and 'all forms of racism'

Your gullibility would be laughable if it wasn't so hypocritical. None of those things exist under Hamas

I don't care that you 'love Jewish people — just hate Israel', that you have some friends that are Jewish, that maybe you're ethnically Jewish yourself — and therefore you're entitled to levy every libel in the playbook against us

Words matter. They lead to actions. When a lie is repeated often enough it's accepted as truth. You are laying the groundwork for more attacks against us

I don't care that you wave the flag of 'human rights', that you've become overnight experts in international law, that you shout fancy slogans you don't understand such as proportionality, occupation and apartheid

Your humanity is selective. In your mind, human rights don't apply to us because we are undeserving. You didn't speak up when our women and children were horribly assaulted

I don't care if you think we are colonialists, imperialists, and settlers and that we should just go back to where we came from

We are back to where we came from

I don't care if you believe in a one state solution, a two state solution, a federation, an internationalized Jerusalem or any other theory drawn up in your ivory tower

We won't readily hold out our necks and endanger our lives in order to satisfy your thought experiments and placate your conscience from afar

I don't care if you consider yourself anti-Zionist but not antisemitic

We've seen enough Jews around the world attacked over the last 3 weeks under the guise of 'anti-Zionism'

I don't care that you think we are too powerful, too technologically advanced, too sophisticated

If we didn't build ourselves up to this point, we'd get eaten alive by Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Iran and Palestinian terrorism

I don't care that you blame us for 1948 refugees, for the fact that they have no state, for the keys that they wave in their fantasy of 'right of return'

Three weeks ago we got a glimpse of that 'return' looks like and what it means for our children

I don't care if you think we aren't real Jews, that Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism, that Jews are a religion and not a nationality and so we deserve no state

Your denials have zero impact on the strength of our ideals and the self-affirmation of our identity

I don't care that you accuse us of flaunting the myriad of UN resolutions, inquiries and statements

They reflect more on the institutional decay of the UN than on us

I don't care about your media coverage, the lies, the equivocation, the acceptance of Hamas talking points and statistics

Your echo chamber is just another weapon in their strategic arsenal

I don't care that you accused us of bombing the Al Ahli hospital

It was only a matter of time before you found a symbol for Israel's wickedness. The subsequent retractions were a fig leaf once the truth emerged that Islamic Jihad was responsible and that the hospital is still standing

I don't care that you see us as a criminal state, a terror state, usurpers, baby killers, Christ killers, Khaybar Jews or any other depravity that exists in your mind

Your libels lay the groundwork for our dehumanization. Rings a bell. We will fight it

I don't care that you've inverted the truth by accusing us of genocide

If positions were reversed and Hamas held the power we do now, you'd see what a genocide looks like

I don't care that you're angry, boiling and outraged

I don't care that you're glued to your TV screens and Telegram channels

I don't care that you're mad

I don't care if you're out on the street, waving your flag and chanting your slogans

We won't die silently the way you want us to

For the first time in 2,000 years we are organized, we are motivated, and we will defend ourselves

We fight for light over darkness

Morality over evil

Not that it matters to you — but we will stick to the rules and hold the high moral ground not because you expect it from us, but because they are a value for us

We will do so ethically and thoughtfully, for we are the People of the Book

Our power and strength are our necessity, because the alternative for us is:

Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Pittsburgh, Toulouse, Farhud, Hebron, Birkenau, Belzec, Babi Yar, Kristallnacht, Kielce and Kishinev

Do you think for a moment that we would return to that reality just to make you feel a little better?

You are deeply mistaken

World,

For so, so long, I really, deeply cared

I cared about fitting in

I cared about what you think

I cared about being a model citizen

I cared about setting a personal example of how a tiny people in a tough neighborhood could still be a Light unto the Nations

How the world's oldest minority — now a majority here — could treat its own internal minorities par excellence amidst the complicated and messy reality of ethnic conflict

How we could painfully dismember parts of our homeland and offer them on the platter of peace to Palestinians that want neither peace nor some parts (they want all of it)

How we could dazzle you with USB sticks, drip irrigation, operating system kernels, Nobel Prize winners, swallowable medical cameras, deep tech, quantum mechanics, generative AI and cures for disease

But now I'm finally accepting that you don't care

You never did

You don't see and you don't hear

And because I cared about what you think so much, that so deeply hurts

...but you don't have my best interests at heart

You take issue with my base identity, with what I represent

Don't expect me to wait for your approval this time

It doesn't matter what I do, you're not going to change

It doesn't matter how I act, because your issue is with who I am

Now I'm going to block out your noise, and do what it takes to win this war

Today
Finally
I no longer care

***

06 April 2022

"Pesach Haggadah" — from the compilation of divrei Torah on Parashath Tazri'a by R' Pinchas Winston

5 Nisan 5782 | ה' ניסן ה"תשפ"ב

"Don't Be a Slave" — Source

Pesach Haggadah

(Read the whole compilation HERE. Emphases mine. -HDG)

IT IS A curious thing. Each year we sit down to make a Pesach Seder to commemorate an event that the vast majority of the world thinks is fictitious. But we do it anyhow, even Jews whose lives reflect their disbelief in the very origin of this time-honored tradition.

We are not the only people to do this. Various different religions and cultures also continue to celebrate long-ago historical events, the spirits of which are often contradicted by the present-day lives of their celebrants. That’s the power of tradition: it can keep alive even that which, for all intents-and-purposes, is actually dead.

Is it hypocrisy? A lot of times.

Perhaps this is part of what is bothering the Evil Son. He’s the main antagonist in the Haggadah because he dares to ask the question: “What does this service mean to you?”

And though we break his teeth for asking such a question, and wag a proverbial finger at him saying, “Had you been there, you certainly would not have been redeemed!” his question is indeed a good one. In fact, it is one the Haggadah each year asks us all to answer by the end of the evening, for the right answer is not only liberating, it is freedom itself.

The problem with the Evil Son is not his question; it is his answer. His question is his answer because for him it is rhetorical. He may have phrased his words as a question, but he was really making a statement: Though this service may have made sense back in the days of Egyptian slavery, it is meaningless today.

Okay. For making fun of tradition we break his teeth, metaphorically-speaking. However, if he is in agreement that once-upon-a-time all of this was necessary, then why do we tell him that had he been in Egypt at the time of the redemption, he would have been one of those who did not go out?

Because he has missed the point of the Haggadah, of the Pesach-Offering, of the entire concept of redemption.

Sure, we no longer worship Egyptian gods, and therefore no longer have to parade through the streets with lambs to prove that we do not fear them or adhere to their religious values.

But that was not the entire story of the Korban Pesach, just a part of it. After all, when Kayin and Hevel brought their offerings to God (Bereishis 4:3), it was on the fourteenth day of Nissan. They had brought Pesach Offerings. And, as the Brisker Rav points out, Avraham Avinu ate matzah on the fifteenth of Nissan, hundreds of years before there was even an Egyptian exile!

This begs the question: Do we eat matzah because there wasn’t enough time to bake bread, or was there not enough time to bake bread so that we would eat matzah? Because, contrary to the Evil Son’s thinking, mitzvos are eternal. They supersede our daily reality and are never the result of circumstance. If anything, they make circumstances possible, such as the leaving of Egypt in Moshe’s time, and the leaving of exile at the End-of-Days.

It is the Chacham, the wise son in each generation who understands this. Hence, the Haggadah’s response to his question is the opposite of the one given to his evil brother:

You, in turn, shall instruct him in the laws of Pesach, [up to] “one is not to eat any dessert after the Pesach lamb.”

The Wise Son is the person who understands one of the most important ideas of Creation, and yet one of the least-known: Redemption is a de facto state of existence. To understand this, it is important to first understand the concept of exile.

When we think of the first exile, we think of the Jewish people in Egyptian bondage. However, the Egyptian exile was really the result, and in many respects, a replication of the original exile of all of mankind. In the beginning, man was created into a state of redemption. Immediately after being formed by God, Adam HaRishon was placed in the Garden of Eden where he lived an idyllic existence. The life of the first man is the one that we all dream of living if we merit to make it to Yemos HaMoshiach—the Messianic Era.

Eating from the Aitz HaDa’as Tov v’Ra—the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil—changed all of that. The bottom line is that within one day of being created and placed into Paradise, mankind was forced to leave it, and the question is, why? The answer is, the transformation of man:

The creation of Heaven and Earth and their components was with the Supernal Light, and they existed on a very elevated and awesome level, specifically man who was higher than all of them. However, after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge and Good and Evil, he and everything else descended and was transformed from skin made of light to human skin.
(Hakdamos uSha’arim, Sha’ar 6, Ch. 10)

Though man has always consisted of a body and soul, before the sin they both existed on a much higher spiritual plane. A human body once more closely resembled a soul than the body we now have, made of divine light rather than of opaque skin. Sin resulted in skin, and the distancing of man from God. That is the very definition of exile, and the Pesach Seder comes to reverse that. To be continued…

Rabbi Pinchas Winston
Thirtysix.org

***

13 March 2022

Celebrating the Belief in Providence by Rabbi Eli J. Mansour...and more

light of 11 Adar 2 5782 | לאור יא אדר ב' ה"תשפ"ב

Borrowed from a neighbor...here

Ed.: This week, we celebrate the reversal of events in the Book of Esther, which we call Purim...and which we pray will occur in our times as in those. May Mashiah be revealed now!

***

Shabbat Zachor: Celebrating the Belief in Providence
by Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

On Shabbat Zachor (the Shabbat preceding Purim), we read a special section in the Torah (Debarim 25:17-19) about the Misva to remember the vicious attack launched by the nation of Amalek against our ancestors in the wilderness. The story of the attack, which appears in the Book of Shemot (17:8-16), is read on the morning of Purim.

Following the war against Amalek, G-d announced to Moshe, "Ki Yad Al Kes Kah, Milhama L’Hashem Ba’Amalek" – "For a hand is raised [on oath] over G-d’s throne, that a war will be waged by G-d against Amalek" (Shemot 17:14). The commentators explain that G-d here is referred to as "Kah" – the letters "Yod" and "Heh" – because His Name is incomplete as long as the nation of Amalek exists. The complete Name, of course, is formed by the four letters "Yod," "Heh," "Vav" and "Heh," but with Amalek in the world, the final two letters – "Vav" and "Heh" – are missing, as it were, from the divine Name.

It has been explained that this teaching is rooted in the verse in Tehillim (96:11), "Yismehu Ha’shamayim Ve’tagel Ha’aretz" – "The heavens shall rejoice, and the earth shall exult," the first letters of which are the letters of the divine Name – "Yod," "Heh," "Vav" and "Heh." This verse expresses the fundamental tenet of providence, that although G-d is in heavens, He is intimately involved in the earth, as He governs, oversees and exerts full control over everything that transpires here in the world. Both the heavens and the earth "rejoice" – because both are under the control of the Almighty. The nation of Amalek battled against this fundamental belief. In the section read on Shabbat Zachor, Amalek is described with the verb "Karecha," which is associated with the word "Mikreh" – which denotes coincidence, or happenstance. Amalek argued that all events are coincidental, unfolding randomly, without any rhyme or reason. They believed in "Yismehu Ha’shamayim" – that G-d is in the heavens, but they denied "Ve’tagel Ha’aretz," that G-d governs the events down here on earth. And thus G-d proclaimed that as long as Amalek exists, His Name consists of only "Yod" and "Heh," representing the words "Yismehu Ha’shamayim," but without "Vav" and "Heh" – the words "Ve’tagel Ha’aretz" – because Amalek denied the belief in G-d’s providence over the events in our world.

Read the rest HERE.

***

Some goings-on in the run-up to our holiday, Purim, where defeat turns to victory...

Zelensky is disappointed by Israel's response | Letter to the editor: search term "not even once" | Nisan this year is their Ramadan..."Palestinians" anticipate more violence | Insights and advice from R' Itamar Schwartz for women on Purim | The Key Question is Why...Israel gets dragged into the middle | Keep your eye on the Covid ball | A Message from [a citizen of] Russia | Biden admin offering $1M for groups delegitimizing Israel |

23 December 2021

Jews & Christmas Trees by Efraim Palvanov (Mayim Achronim) — and more

19 Tevet 5782 | י"ט טבת ה"תשפ"ב

Snippet:

As we approach Christmas and New Year’s Eve and start seeing “Christmas trees” popping up all around us, it is worth exploring where this custom came from, and what the Torah might say about it. It is especially important to address because some Jews from the former Soviet Union continue to have a (seemingly) non-religious “New Year’s tree” yolka in their homes, as do assimilated and intermarried Jews across Europe and America. Is it okay to have such a tree in a Jewish home? As might be expected, the short answer is “no”. To properly understand why, we must take an eye-opening trip back in time.

22 August 2021

Waw...fascinating! (Strengthening Ourselves in Preparation for Redemption by R' Eli J. Mansour)

light of 15 Elul 5781

Waw...the letter Israelis now pronounce "vav"...a key to redemption...fascinating! - HDG

***

Parashat Ki Teseh 5781

Strengthening Ourselves in Preparation for Redemption

by Rabbi Eli J. Mansour (original article here)

In the prophecy read as the Haftara for Parashat Ki-Teseh, the prophet Yeshayahu foresees the return of the Jewish People to its homeland. He turns to the Land of Israel and cries, "Expand the space of your tent, and the curtains of your residences shall be moved… Extend your ropes, and strengthen your pegs" (54:2). Whereas the land lay empty throughout the years of exile, the prophet promises that the time will come when the land will need to expand to accommodate the influx of Jews who will return.

The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909) offers a deeper explanation of the words, "Vi’ytedotayich Hazeki" ("strengthen your pegs"). The plain meaning, of course, is that this refers to the pegs used to bind the ropes of the tent to the ground. As the tent expands, the pegs need to be strengthened to hold down the extended ropes. The Ben Ish Hai, however, adds that a peg is shaped like the letter "Vav," and the prophet here exhorts us to strengthen our commitment to the quality represented by this letter. He explains that if the letter "Vav" is removed from the word "Kadosh" ("sacred"), the result is the word "Kadesh" – referring to a harlot, the diametric opposite of holiness. The letter "Vav," then, signifies the difference between decadence and sanctity, our maintaining proper standards of purity and morality so we attain Kedusha, rather than becoming the opposite, Heaven forbid. For this reason, the Ben Ish Hai notes, Yosef was dressed with "Bigdeh Shesh" (flax garments) when he was appointed vizier over Egypt (Bereshit 41:42). The word "Shesh" (flax) also means "six," alluding to the letter "Vav," which in Gematria equals 6. Yosef embodied the quality of "Yesod," of resisting temptation to maintain purity, and thus he is described as being clothed with "Shesh," the letter "Vav," the attainment of Kedusha.

The Ben Ish Hai explains that this is the meaning of the prophet’s charge, "Vi’ytedotayich Hazeki." He is telling us that in order to earn our final redemption, we must strengthen our "peg" – the letter "Vav," our commitment to maintaining our standards of Kedusha. This is a struggle that must be waged as we prepare for our final redemption.

It is no coincidence that in our times, as we inch closer to the arrival of Mashiah, we face unprecedented challenges particularly in this area, the area of purity and Kedusha. Already the prophet Yeshayahu informed us that as our nation returns to its homeland in preparation for the final redemption, we will need to work very hard to strengthen our "peg," our commitment to the Torah’s standards of purity. This challenge is an especially difficult one, but it is one which we must wage, with devotion and determination, confident that this struggle will bring us closer to our final redemption, may it arrive speedily and in our time, Amen.

***

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