Does Our News Feed Free Us or Enslave Us?

25 Tevet 5776

“The National Security Act (passed in 1947) allows US Intelligence to begin any action, at any time, without asking anybody. In addition, US Intelligence may postpone indefinitely any report of such activity simply by claiming that making the report would harm the "national security" of the United States. This is a recipe for absolute power. It follows that the National Security Act of 1947 gave US Intelligence the power—if not the explicit authority—to corrupt the press in secret. This article will argue, and document, that this is precisely what US Intelligence has done. Naturally, this raises the sharpest possible questions about the integrity of US democracy.”
 —Francisco Gil-White, Historical and Investigative Research

“…giving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless.” —Thomas Jefferson, 1791

***

The news we read, hear and practically breathe every day is where deception and illusion begin in our time, no matter where we live in the world. And that includes Israel as much as anywhere else. Most people have a philosophy today that the news is not to be believed. Sometimes we can’t quite put our finger on it, and sometimes we can; either way we don’t understand why even after mountains of corrections have been published, too little and too late after the fact, the media groups don’t seem to learn their lesson and get it right henceforth. We certainly don’t know that this atmosphere was created deliberately under the rubric of US law and spread throughout the world by US agents. 

Why would they do such a thing? Professor Gil-White continues, 

“…since a person’s interests are largely determined by his or her position in the socio-economic structure, it follows that the power elite will tend to have interests quite at variance with those of the majority of the population. In fact, their ideology may be completely different—even opposite.

“Is this a problem? Not if the majority has sufficient oversight over what the power elite is doing, for in this case government officials who violate the wishes of the majority can be democratically replaced with others who do respect what the people want. 

What can produce the sufficient level of oversight? A free and competitive news market.”

Aha. Have you noticed that the same few news organizations do all the reporting, and they all report the same news? You even think that if one of them deviates, something is wrong. Your only actual choice is your favorite anchor person, if you watch the news — and if you don’t, you have your pick of favorite situation comedies or other distractions that pass for television entertainment.

I have some theories about how some of this was done and how it continues to be done today. If they make any sense, you might want to follow your “nose” and see where it leads. But the results are laid out quite clearly by our instructor: 

“When the product is news, in a free and competitive market we should see better-quality news services exposing the biases, inaccuracies, or lies in inferior news services. Why? Because deviations from the truth are synonymous with a lower-quality news product; if more reliable alternatives are known to be available, consumers will flock to those. In a free news market, therefore, the different media services will savagely attack each other. As a result, untruths will have poor stability. But in order to have such a free market of information—what is called a ‘free press’—the companies producing news must not be controlled by the local government or a foreign one, and they must be independent of each other, so that they indeed compete to inform news consumers.

“Without a free press, democracy is impossible.”

The way things are now, there is no high-quality news today, except for those very few who are content with requesting donations from their consumers so that their news providers will receive a much lower salary for their work than their colleagues in the major networks — or in some cases even no pay at all.

Examples in Israel are Arutz 7 and Kol haYehudi, both Web sites. A7 used to be a radio station operated in a ship on the Mediterranean; but the local powers-that-be took it off the air because of traffic violations (HaAretz says radio piracy, if you can get this article; if not, you might have to Google it), while a similar leftist-leaning pirate station was untouched for the same infringement. Avraham "Abie" Nathan was the leftist broadcaster, while Ya'akov "Katzeleh" Katz was the rightist one.

I need to stop and explain something here: I’m not speaking of the so-called “public” stations (which, by the way, seem to be a near-unique phenomenon of the US because there the norm is networks supported by business – the bigger, the better – and whose agenda is being furthered by this? Certainly not the product- or the television-consumer’s), which are nothing more than a way to have subscribers contribute to their own brainwashing, as well as having big business pay for it. (Are we really so stupid that we don’t realize that public and commercial networks work together?) The budgets on these stations are somewhat below the “normal” commercial stations, but nonetheless very viable. All staff gets paid a more-than-decent living wage, and volunteers are welcome but not absolutely necessary.

In Israel the government makes citizens pay for television. Not the devices that show us the television programming, which of course are purchased at electronics stores, but the programming itself: It is called the television license fee. Wikipedia says the television stations the IBA (Israel Broadcasting Authority) oversees are often sponsored by commercial entities; in addition, reforms are on the way: the TV tax is supposed to be abolished (first in March 2015, now delayed to this March). I'm not holding my breath. 

At least radio here is allowed to be commercially supported, and therefore free for the citizens. Otherwise, how would we know what is going on in the world? (Or do we?)

When we made aliyah we made sure we neither bought a television nor participated in any television-watching from any of our dwellings since we arrived in Israel. Yet the IBA tried to bill us for back payments on a service we had never used, going back to even before our aliyah! Fortunately, I was able to write them a letter explaining our circumstances and that I had a neighbor who kindly corrected a couple of mistakes in my writing before I faxed it to them. They never tried to bill us again. They lost that money – and likely lost a lot more trying to fish for people who would go for that scam because they didn’t understand a) the Hebrew in the letter or b) that they really didn’t have to pay if they didn’t have TV/telly! I have no idea how much staff got paid there, but a few years ago, the Authority announced that it was going to dissolve. My research for this article shows that it hasn't gone away, but instead will become the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation in March 2016. I won’t know how Israeli television stations will run, since I still don’t watch and my friends don’t watch either.

Back to the point: What I am speaking of is a news-providing station that is willing to run on an extremely low budget and even have staff volunteer their vital services. Even these would understandably have a hard time resisting when presented an offer for money that usually comes hard to them, coming either from an agenda-laden foundation or even a government agency. Media is expensive: equipment, training, you name it. If there are some news agencies that get a lot of sponsorship from outside, they’re beholden to whomever is giving it to them, or giving them the price break. That outside agenda again, this time applied from the global or national media provider(s) to the local media provider. If the locals refuse, the G/NMP might just cause legal problems, as they did with Arutz Sheva.

So, to where has this led us? Trials by media? Live-on-television or -Internet displays of burning and beheading? Why not. They're the circuses (without the bread, so provide your own) of the Romans all over again. The difference between opinion and fact, truth and falsehood, light and darkness? Erased. Democracy or police state? It's all the same thing, don't you know! Egypt — Mitzrayim, trapped in the straits — all over again.

It's all fiction anyway, according to those who think they run the show. They would like us to forget about the One behind the curtain, with whom we will all meet at the end for "lessons learned" and judgment.

Bottom Line: Since we all know about the big agenda of the “powers that be” to take Israel down and worldwide Jewry with it, we Israelis can know with certainty that our mainstream media, along with the rest of the world's, are completely compromised as a matter of AMERICAN (US) national security. This includes the ongoing attack on our self-image as a nation and what is good and bad for our country; who is a patriot and who is a traitor; what sort of values we should live by; who gets out of jail with blood on his hands and who gets interrogative torture for doing nothing wrong; and which wing's laws and philosophy get enforced, and which wing's don't. 

Not to mention the products we buy, an increasing percentage of which are provided by the nations at their whim and sufferance¹, and not through our own efforts!

If there is any truth in the news, it is provided by people whose money sources are clean and untainted, and reporters, analysts and commenters who have a strong moral compass and will speak the truth regardless of consequences — which we sorely lack today.

Sorry, folks. Democracy as once practiced in the United States died an unnatural death in 1947. What replaced it is a fake, phony shadow covering most of the world that better resembles George Orwell’s 1984 but may have not made it there yet; but in some ways it is worse (our technology is far more advanced than Orwell could have imagined.). Its alternative is outright dictatorship — especially characterized by the Muslim world, but also present in any part of the world dominated by Communism, whether by law or by philosophy.

I wonder what Mr. Orwell would say if he were alive today. But also, Samson, Deborah the judge and prophetess, and Joshua. Without them, and many others, and the G-d-given writings we still carry around, study and use to guide worship, we Jews might not have courage at all to press forward.

But, press forward we do. Only G-d can save us from this horrible evil and help us overcome the evildoers, both internal and external; and when it is over He expects us to live for Him, and Him alone. Maybe it’s time to call for complete redemption from the Creator of All?

¹An interesting example occurs with Israeli wheat, which apparently is suitable for pasta, and not for bread. In private conversation I have been told that we sell the raw wheat to Italy, which makes our pasta products and sells them back to us at a markup! It’s quite a deal in their favor! Why can’t we just make our own?

A religious example would be the expensive Borsalino hats many Haredi men wear. They come from a non-Jewish company, also in Italy. Would it be so difficult for us to make our own hats?

By what contract are we bound to deal with people who hate us and want us dead, either through their own hand or one they pay to do the job?

More reading:

National Security Act of 1947 in its entirety (The original government document linked from Prof. Gil-White’s site does not exist anymore; you can find plenty to chew on here. Hopefully all the documents will not disappear before you’ve had a chance to read what you wish from them.)

Walla Miracle: Palestinian Stabbing Attack in Jerusalem Foiled when Knife Bends Out of Shape | מאמר מקורי וואלה בעברית נס: | Why the Israeli Left Fears the New NGO Law | IDF Reservists to Sue NGO Breaking the Silence for Slander | Moses: Fanatic and Extremist | The One-Sided Fair-and-Balanced Approach | Jogging Against Terror | The Cost of False Accusations | The Ticking Time Bomb Torture of Shabak |

I love my country. I hate my government's behavior.

15 Tevet 5776

Please pray for Elisha Chaim ben Na'ama Leah. He is the minor-aged detainee who tried to commit suicide. 

“There is Jewish terror, and it should be treated like Arab terror. It is not being perpetrated by the young men under custody, but by their interrogators.” – a Yeshiva Avreich, commenting on A7’s “Duma detainee ‘tried to commit suicide’”, emphasis mine. -CDG

 Video reenactment of Shaba"k torture from Arutz 7

Also recommended: How Can We Remain Silent??? (video in Hebrew)

An article has finally been published concerning the young man who has been sodomized and beaten nearly to death. It is Elisha Odess, a 17-year-old American citizen. (I do not need to link to Electronic Intifada and Tikkun Olam, who have also mentioned his name, since they are linked from this article already. But I note it because we can see who takes interest in naming those who are vulnerable enough to lose the fight for survival all Israeli Jews are waging. These, in particular, are taking pleasure in it: a true hillul haShem.)

The same article also states: “A U.S. State Department official would not comment on whether the State Department had been involved in Odess’s case, citing “privacy considerations.”

It seems that indeed they have: Consider what they do not say. The US State Department did not give a clear statement such as “No, we have not been involved.” Par for the course, considering the way other Jewish Israeli-American citizens’ cases have been treated — for instance, Koby Mandell and Alisa Flatow — by the US Government. I know, these are victims of terrorism and those I cited above are accused of it in the case of the fiery murders of the Dawabsheh family in Duma (and, lest we forget, it’s all totally unproven); but the long-standing treatment remains the same: No official regard at all. Even the family of Ezra Schwartz, who was murdered only as a visitor to Israel and not as a citizen, got no special consideration as an American citizen.

Don’t worry. They are all in good company. Anne Frank (of Diary fame) and her family weren’t even let into the United States during WWII and as a result, almost all of them perished at the hands of the Nazis. I would have rather seen her alive with children, grandchildren and now, great-grandchildren than to see a single copy of that Diary on any library shelf or as a sales choice on Amazon; I have never read it, and I likely never will. Finding out this amazing fact cemented my decision to make aliyah: After the war America participated in allowing Jews to think of her as a medinah shel chesed (nation of kindness) since it was good for her image. That chimera was stripped away for me when I realized that millions of Jews, who could have had productive lives, contributing to the US economy among other things, were rejected in much the same way by the US State Department, which has continued its anti-Semitic tradition to this day. Now, may they receive the full reward for the “repentance” they have shown by letting Syrian Arab Muslims seek refuge there, rather than Jews — measure for measure.

Which brings me now to turn to the Israeli Security Agency ISA (= Shaba”k)’s Jewish Division. After all, this Israeli government agency is ultimately responsible for this young man and at least two others from among the dozens currently in administrative detention to whom they have chosen to give “special treatment.” They deny torturing the three boys they have in custody (with all the gory details that you may find elsewhere at your leisure) including Mr. Odess, yet they assert that these youth are plotting to destroy the State of Israel. Again, it is what they are not saying: “no, we are not torturing them.” It’s more like: We have the right to do anything we please with them because they belong to a Jewish terror group that seeks to destroy the Jewish State. 

It makes me wonder why the ISA behaved this way despite having well and truly blackened the State's eye in front of the goyim. Here’s what I think their motive might be: They believe either that one of them thinks he is Mashiach Tzidkenu, or else that he IS Mashiach Tzidkenu; whether ben Yosef or ben David, I don’t know. Why? Because only Mashiach Tzidkenu can, or will, take over or destroy Israel’s government. No one else. It is a witch hunt for Mashiach in order to kill him.

Note that none of these youth actually has to think or believe that he is Mashiach. Only the Shabak operatives, their bosses and their commanding hierarchy have to believe it, for this to be plausible. But for the Israeli government it is a losing battle, much like the attempt by Pharaoh to eliminate the then-deliverer of the Hebrews some three thousand years ago by throwing baby boys into the Nile River to drown. What G-d plans, man cannot annul by force; only by persuasion – of Him, not His servant. And when it comes to this most important item on His agenda, no “persuasion,” especially of this sort, will force His decision of when and through whom it will occur, may it happen in the blink of an eye in our day.

In the meanwhile, my readers should understand that the Israeli government is copycatting the United States of America, who had an “Israel Desk” long before Shabak had a Jewish Division. In fact, the US and England have been tapping into the telephones of each other’s Jews, whether with wires or wirelessly, for decades. As Loftus and Aarons wrote in The Secret War Against the Jews in 1994¹:

Chapter 8, Spying on Zion, p. 181-182:

Our sources say that the history books have missed the most important elements of this story of the violation of demographic rights: the systematic electronic eavesdropping employed against American Jews engaged in legitimate political activities. In this chapter, we discuss the following allegations:

• During World War II the covert British wiretap program in the United States against Nazi sympathizers was extended to surveil American supporters of a Jewish state in Palestine. 
• After the war this program was continued, and massively expanded, as the British gained the cooperation of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and Secretary of Defense James Forrestal for the illegal collection of electronic intelligence on Zionist activities in the United States.
• The once highly secret Communications Intelligence arrangements between Britain and the United States have been deliberately twisted by the intelligence agencies of both countries to allow illegal British wiretaps of American Jewish citizens using American facilities. A reciprocal arrangement exists in Britain.
•  The illegal campaign against the Jews reached its height during the Reagan-Bush years in the White House, when even Jewish children in summer camp were monitored for "subversive" activities.
• Over the years this illegal arrangement has been extended past Jews, Communists, and black radicals, to reach virtually any citizen, including mainstream political candidates, no matter how harmless their activities may have been.

The “old spies” say that electronic surveillance of Jews started in 1944, when American Zionists were first wiretapped on a broad scale.

It hardly makes sense on its face that Israel has any “Jewish Division” at all, especially in its Security Service. In this sense it IS acting like “any other country” —one that is just as much against Jews as any other. Those of us closer to the action feel sick, much as the people prophesied about in Jeremiah 30:6, with yerakon, green sickness. Right after that, in verse 7, it says "...it will be a time of trouble for Yaaqov, but he will be saved from it."

Protest now, while we still have time and freedom to do so — but, more importantly, pray for these Jewish administrative detainees, who have no reason to remain in jail. And beg and plead with haShem for the crowning of Mashiach Tzidkenu ASAP!

Any questions?

¹ Loftus, John and Aarons, Mark, The Secret War Against the Jews: How western espionage betrayed the Jewish people, 1994, St. Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11057-X, 514 pp.

Many thanks to DS for providing the link to the name of the tortured youth Elisha Odess.

More reading: The Voice of the N W O Echoes across the Land of Israel | Duma and the Return of the King | In All Honesty… | VIDEO: Torture in the Holy Land…Nothing New | Expressing Outrage | The 47 Rabbis who failed to condemn Shaba"k torture | Thanks to an Anonymous Commenter: VIDEO: The Erev Rav in the Last Days (HEBREW) |

Time of Jacob's Trouble? Part 3

BS"D בס"ד
10 Tevet 5776 
Fast of Asarah b'Tevet — due to the beginning of the siege of Yerushalayim before Galut Bavel (the Babylonian Exile). 

UNBELIEVABLY HORRIBLE UPDATE: ISA [Shaba"k] 'SEXUALLY HARRASSED' DUMA SUSPECT

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

This is the last part of the series discussing Jeremiah 30/ירמיהו ל, comprising verses 18-25. It holds some very good news for the Jewish People, and all of it is despite the plans of the wicked of this world, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Yes, we will be saved from 'et tzarah l'Yaaqov — the time of Jacob's trouble — forever! The Complete Redemption that follows is eternal!

Yes! Wicked! Hellions! The Jews who order and carry out the torture of innocent Jewish youth to the point of desire for suicide in order to get false confessions out of them for the sake of the non-Jews who give them the orders to do so are the same ones (or their spiritual descendants and students) who decided —whether on their own or at the behest of the nations — that there is no G-d; that the return of the Jews to the land of Israel was sin; that we must give the land to anyone who claims it to be theirs; who hate being the Chosen People (although many also believe that we were chosen to be punished); and who declare, as the recently late Yossi Sarid — a stimulus to many of these traitors in high places — said that those who are mockingly called settlers (actually inheritors) "are not my brothers." More on him here and here.

Well, maybe we are not your brothers, Yossi Sarid (and hevre — translated much like "posse" or "gang" as used by young Americans). You must have been from a different nation altogether. Like one that was descended from apes, as those who advocate evolution always say about human beings! Precisely because you were born of a Jewish mother makes you subject to more punishment where you are now for what you did to make life harder for the nation of Israel and its reborn state. Don't worry. The others will follow in haShem's good time and in His way.

***

יח  כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, הִנְנִי-שָׁב שְׁבוּת אָהֳלֵי יַעֲקוֹב, וּמִשְׁכְּנֹתָיו, אֲרַחֵם; וְנִבְנְתָה עִיר עַל-תִּלָּהּ, וְאַרְמוֹן עַל-מִשְׁפָּטוֹ יֵשֵׁב.		18 Thus said HASHEM: Behold, I am returning the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and I will have mercy on his abodes, and the City will be built on its hill, and the Palace will sit in its proper place.
		Rashi: and the Palace: The Temple.
		Hava haAharona: This is one of the things that we are waiting for, and striving to see through.
יט  וְיָצָא מֵהֶם תּוֹדָה, וְקוֹל מְשַׂחֲקִים; וְהִרְבִּתִים וְלֹא יִמְעָטוּ, וְהִכְבַּדְתִּים וְלֹא יִצְעָרוּ.		19 The sound of thanksgiving and the sound of merrymakers will emanate from them; I will multiply them, and they will not be diminished; and I will make them heavy [of number], and they will not dwindle.
		Rashi: and I will multiply them: I will make them a numerous nation.
		and they shall not dwindle: like יִמְעָטוּ.
		Hava haAharona: I will multiply them, and they will not be diminished: The nations have been "wise with us" just as Pharaoh advised thousands of years ago, and we have been diminished until now as a result. No longer! We will be far larger than we ever have been before, despite the plans of those who want to kill most of mankind, including all of us children of Yaaqov. I have neighbors who say that we are going through a continual baby boom and it never stops. I have seen it in action all the days I have been here, and I am sure many others will say the same.
כ  וְהָיוּ בָנָיו כְּקֶדֶם, וַעֲדָתוֹ לְפָנַי תִּכּוֹן; וּפָקַדְתִּי, עַל כָּל-לֹחֲצָיו.		20 His sons will be [beloved] as in the past, and his assembly will be established before Me, and I shall deal with all his oppressors. Hava haAharona: I shall deal with all his oppressors: Please include the Jewish ones! It seems they are the worst of all, as bad as the non-Jews have been.
כא  וְהָיָה אַדִּירוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ, וּמֹשְׁלוֹ מִקִּרְבּוֹ יֵצֵא, וְהִקְרַבְתִּיו, וְנִגַּשׁ אֵלָי:  כִּי מִי הוּא-זֶה עָרַב אֶת-לִבּוֹ, לָגֶשֶׁת אֵלַי--נְאֻם-יְהוָה.		21 His leader will be from his midst, and his ruler will emerge from within him. I will bring him close and then he will be able to approach Me; for who then would embolden his heart to approach Me? — the word of HASHEM.
		Rashi: His leader: lit., his mighty one.
		embolden his heart: an expression of a pledge (fermaille, aatine in French).
		to approach Me: to war, to stop Me.
		Hava haAharona: His leader will be from his midst…: Those who think they will rule over us from afar or within the country, from other places, will find an unpleasant surprise. While we were gone no other could survive continuously here, and while we are here, a Jew with emunah (basic faith in haShem and His rule of the world) has to rule. And he will. A ruler without emunah does so on haShem's sufferance.
כב  וִהְיִיתֶם לִי, לְעָם; וְאָנֹכִי, אֶהְיֶה לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים.  {ס}		22 You will be a people unto Me, and I will be a God unto you. {S}
כג  הִנֵּה סַעֲרַת יְהוָה, חֵמָה יָצְאָה--סַעַר, מִתְגּוֹרֵר:  עַל רֹאשׁ רְשָׁעִים, יָחוּל.		23 Behold, the storm of HASHEM: A rage shall go forth, a tempest will seek rest; it will rest upon the head of the wicked.
		Rashi: tempest seeking rest: camping and dwelling an expression of “the land of the sojournings of (מְגוּרֵי) ” (Gen. 37:1), and a similar case is “and a whirling (מִתְחוֹלֵל) storm” (supra 23:19) stated in the other verse is the same as this for both of them are expressions of camping.
		on the head[s] of the wicked: On the heads of the heathens. Hava haAharona: And on the heads of Jews who attempt to establish heathenism here.
כד  לֹא יָשׁוּב, חֲרוֹן אַף-יְהוָה, עַד-עֲשֹׂתוֹ וְעַד-הֲקִימוֹ, מְזִמּוֹת לִבּוֹ; בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, תִּתְבּוֹנְנוּ בָהּ.		24 HASHEM'S burning wrath will not recede until He has accomplished it, and until He has upheld the plans of His heart. In the end of days you will be able to understand it. Hava haAharona: In the end of days you will be able to understand it: Plain, decent people (let alone righteous, learned tzaddikim) should be able to grasp what HaShem is doing ahead of the Complete Redemption.
כה  בָּעֵת הַהִיא, נְאֻם-יְהוָה, אֶהְיֶה לֵאלֹהִים, לְכֹל מִשְׁפְּחוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְהֵמָּה, יִהְיוּ-לִי לְעָם.  {ס}		25 At that time — the word of HASHEM — I will be a God for all the families of Israel, and they will be people for Me. {S}

"Israel" throughout refers to the 12 tribes and those who joined the Jews by proper conversion, not those who believe in the supersession by Christianity and the super-supersession by Islam. Need I say more.

We Jews have never demanded that people convert to Judaism. As my rabbi always says, Do the 7 [Noahide Laws], go to Heaven!

PS: Have an easy (pain-free) and extremely meaningful fast, if you can. Today is possibly a watershed day in Jewish history. Make the most of it, as best you can.

End.

More reading: Jews Are Not Terrorists | The People Protest Torture... | All About 10 Tevet | Meanwhile the 10th of Tevet... (be sure to read the updates there too)| Demand Civil Rights for Jews in Israel! |

The Time of Jacob's Trouble? Part 2

BS"D בס"ד 
8 Tevet 5776

URGENT UPDATE: Hundreds Riot over Duma Suspects' Treatment; 4 Arrested

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

This is the continuation of the prophecy of Yirmiyahu haNavi (Jeremiah the Prophet) that speaks of a terrible time of trouble for the nation of Israel (whose original name is Yaaqov), from which it will return to G-d, be saved and redeemed. Things will never go back to the way they were, much to the chagrin of the nations.

This second of three parts goes more into the pain and suffering of the Jewish nation, and at the end of this section haShem begins to pay attention to our plight in an open manner — not just saving us through the wars, but setting us up for the Complete and Final Geula.

During the writing of this part, I have found out that since "ירמיהו ל Jeremiah 30 is not used at all as a Haftarah (Prophetic passage to go along with a Torah portion) it is rarely, if at all, studied. I hope this series will stimulate attention from Jews, if nothing else. After all, it seems that whatever we neglect, others pick up, appropriate and use against us if they can.

The second part covers verses 12-17.

יב  כִּי כֹה אָמַר יְהוָה, אָנוּשׁ לְשִׁבְרֵךְ--נַחְלָה, מַכָּתֵךְ.		12 For thus said HASHEM: Your injury is grave, your wound is acute.
		Rashi: Your injury is grave, your wound is acute: (Enfers in Old French).
		Hava haAharona: Could Enfers be the root of the English "infirm" and "infirmary"? Are we in the infirmary?
יג  אֵין-דָּן דִּינֵךְ, לְמָזוֹר; רְפֻאוֹת תְּעָלָה, אֵין לָךְ.		13 No one judges your wound to have a cure; medications or remedy do not exist for you.
		Rashi: to be healed: cure. No one thinks that you will have salvation.
		Hava haAharona: No one thinks that you will have salvation: So we have seen via both major "Abrahamic" religions as long as they have been around! But they have denied us freedom of speech one way or another, to the point where we self-censor constantly for fear of offending them. Else they might actually hear the truth - worse yet, we just might hear the truth too.
		Rashi: healing: a cure, an expression of availing.
		Hava haAharona:  medications or remedy do not exist for you: Explicitly stated by the New Age movement and the New World Order folks! This is their excuse to somehow rid the world of us, and they have the chutzpah to expect us to agree to it!
יד  כָּל-מְאַהֲבַיִךְ שְׁכֵחוּךְ, אוֹתָךְ לֹא יִדְרֹשׁוּ:  כִּי מַכַּת אוֹיֵב הִכִּיתִיךְ, מוּסַר אַכְזָרִי--עַל רֹב עֲו‍ֹנֵךְ, עָצְמוּ חַטֹּאתָיִךְ.		14 All your paramours have forgotten you, they do not inquire after you. For I struck you with the blow of an enemy, with a cruel reproof, because of your many sins, your transgressions that were so numerous.
		Rashi: cruel chastisement: cruel reproof. The reproof is cruel.
		Hava haAharona: All your paramours…do not inquire after you: The nations who benefit from Israel's inventions and out-of-the box ideas take them for granted, so they don't care whether Israel suffers in the meanwhile. But sometimes, when they have nowhere else to go, they come to us.
טו  מַה-תִּזְעַק עַל-שִׁבְרֵךְ, אָנוּשׁ מַכְאֹבֵךְ:  עַל רֹב עֲו‍ֹנֵךְ, עָצְמוּ חַטֹּאתַיִךְ--עָשִׂיתִי אֵלֶּה, לָךְ.		15 How can you cry out over your injury, over your pain that is grave? It is because of your many sins, your transgressions that were so numerous, that I have inflicted these upon you!
		Hava haAharona: How can you cry out…It is because of your many sins…: I believe this is addressing the system (where even "right-wing" leadership follows the left wing's lead for the most part). The powers behind the political, educational, judicial, financial and  military leadership want Israel to be just like any other country, and that just doesn't work here. Israeli Jews' complaints are derided while the same ones put forth by others are taken seriously in the world because haShem wants us to take Him seriously. And they don't wanna! But too many of us do so want to do haShem's will — set up Torah governance, get victory over our enemies and build the 3rd Beit haMiqdash! (Sanhedrin 20b) UPDATE: Now our government so desires to squelch the desires of those who wish to serve HaShem that they torture administrative detainees over last summer's Duma house-burning-and-murder who had NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! This is the worst of the many SINS (avonoth עונות and heta'oth חטאות) for which we are being punished. Read this and weep - and pray for haShem's retribution for the people of Israel and whatever we can do to help! Or else, we deserve to be punished if we do not speak up for our brothers and sisters whose families are suffering this!!!
טז  לָכֵן כָּל-אֹכְלַיִךְ, יֵאָכֵלוּ, וְכָל-צָרַיִךְ כֻּלָּם, בַּשְּׁבִי יֵלֵכוּ; וְהָיוּ שֹׁאסַיִךְ לִמְשִׁסָּה, וְכָל-בֹּזְזַיִךְ אֶתֵּן לָבַז.		16 Nevertheless, all who devoured you shall themselves be devoured; all who oppressed you will all go into captivity; who trampled you will be trampled; and all who despoiled you, I shall deliver to become spoils.
		Rashi: Nevertheless [לכן]: This is an expression denoting an oath.
		those who trample you: an expression of spoil, and so did Jonathan render it: וִיהוֹן עָדַי לַעֲדִי.
		Hava haAharona: and so did Jonathan render it…: Targum Yonatan?
יז  כִּי אַעֲלֶה אֲרֻכָה לָךְ וּמִמַּכּוֹתַיִךְ אֶרְפָּאֵךְ, נְאֻם-יְהוָה:  כִּי נִדָּחָה, קָרְאוּ לָךְ--צִיּוֹן הִיא, דֹּרֵשׁ אֵין לָהּ.  {ס}		17 For I will make a cure for you, and I will heal you from your wounds — the word of HASHEM; for they called you 'Discarded!' [saying,] 'She is Zion — no one cares about her!' {S}
		Rashi: cure: Heb. ארכה.
		Hava haAharona: for they called you 'Discarded!': Threatening not to do business with Israel, labeling us a "pariah nation," the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement, threatening to arrest our leadership if they dare go overseas, putting the whole country on trial, calling our presence "occupation," demanding that we not protect ourselves properly…? Need I go on?

I suppose it could be worse, but how much worse? The fish in the Pacific Ocean are still dying from the Fukushima disaster in 2011, and lots of other creatures are affected. Soon even sick people will not be able to get a fish to eat. Sanhedrin 98a is coming true, just in case you didn't realize that even the words of our Talmud can prove prophetic.

The revealing of Mashiach cannot be far away, Baruch haShem!

The last part will come soon, be"H.

More reading: 10th of Tevet Special Announcement | Israel Suddenly Unpopular with Presidential Wannabes | Why Belief in Mashiach is One of the 13 Principles | Say the 'Shema' With Us Monday at 9PM Israel Time! | Anti-Semites Unwittingly Aid Israel | When All Else Fails, Call Israel | In Retrospect | They hung me by my hands and burned them... |