33 Hours for 33 Jews Murdered in 'Terror Wave'

20 Adar Alef 5776

Yesterday the Women for Israel's Tomorrow ("Women in Green") and friends began a 33-hour vigil in front of the Prime Minister's residence because, in the words of Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katsover,

It is impossible to continue this way. 

We must put an end to the routine, in honor of the memory of those who have been murdered. 

We must stop the stuttering, first of all in the matter of our ownership of the Land. 

We must, once and for all, cut off the hope of the enemy. Yes. The hope. It is not despair that drives the enemy, but hope. The hope of establishing a Palestinian state in the heart of our Land. This is what they are fighting for. And this hope must be cut off by the application of Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and the implementation of sovereignty in our entire Land. 

There must be a final resolution of the most basic question regarding our existence and when the enemies see our government's determination, they will understand that they must accept reality. This is what we will say today and tomorrow to the prime minister near his residence in Jerusalem for 33 hours. Join us!

When they wrote the email, they had just visited the home of Eliav Gelman, hy"d, from Karmei Tsur, the 33rd fatality in this most recent terror wave, which began on Rosh HaShana 5776 (Sept. 13, 2015). The sign above refers to the way the nations order us around — and our leadership obeys, telling us that this the path to being a normal nation. Many of us Israelis disagree with that explanation because the results speak for themselves. Or, rather, they shout loudly. Because we are a nation of returnees, a large percentage of us remember how a normal nation is supposed to behave, and we are not fooled. Above all, we believe that Israel is to be a normal nation on its own terms, and not those of the rest of the world.

I was at the vigil yesterday, and I am still clarifying until when they will be there today. By my reckoning, ending at 6 PM (18:00) will fulfill the whole 33 hours because they started at 9 AM (9:00) yesterday. Israelis are invited to attend while it is still happening.

CORRECTION: Nadia Matar wrote me that they started at 6am yesterday, so they will end earlier than I had thought.

More videos are forthcoming. The ones I had access to from yesterday are in Hebrew, below. Each one is less than 5 minutes long.

MK Moti Yogev (Bayit haYehudi)

Binyamin Council head and Yesh"a leader Avi Ro'eh

Jerusalem City Councilman Dov Kalmanovich

More reading:

'We can't get used to terror - this is Israel 2016!' | Activists begin vigil against terror | Yesh"a Council Head: 'Annex Judea-Samaria now to defeat terror' | 33-Hour Vigil Near PM's Residence In Light of Continuing Terror | 

More Videos: Nashim BeYarok You-Tube Channel

Is Israel Appeasing Hitler’s Heirs?

8 Adar Alef 5776

“…since justice is the heart of our concerns, and years have gone by without update or result, it has to be said that justice has not been achieved here. At the same time, it should also be acknowledged that the responsibility of the US government is to administer justice for its citizens, including for my murdered daughter Malki and for her family.

“If some larger truth lies behind the lack of momentum, that truth ought to be disclosed. If diplomatic considerations override the law enforcement imperatives, we wish that were made known too. If foreign governments are thwarting US government efforts to enforce its laws, that too should be known.”

-Arnold Roth, father of Malka Chana Roth, hy”d, testifying at a hearing on national security in the US

***

Mr. Roth certainly has an excellent question: Something larger must lurk behind the lack of response to the families of terror victims, especially Jewish ones, and especially Jewish Israelis, for whom a particular agency, the Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism (OVT) and its program were created and designed. This bureau happens to be in the United States and the article linked to above is about American citizens. But a thinking person must wonder whether there is any other evidence of concern, no matter how small, anywhere in the world, for Jewish citizens of their countries. Considering that money for the support of the enemies of the Jews comes largely from other countries, one must ask whether there is a hateful attitude involved, or just a hypocritical one.

I, like many others, wish he had not had to ask this question or bring up the other issues that he and other families of terror victims face from Israel’s “best friend.”

How, despite all the words that have been spoken, promises that have been made, have we come to a time when jailed terrorists, also known as convicted murderers, get more money than honest, hard-working people, to the point where in some places it is considered a career choice or an industry? Are we going to see an article on LinkedIn on it in the near future? Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average going to have a line on it? (How many remember the movie, Murder Inc.? I don’t remember ever seeing it – but my train of thought ran to the title.) Or are we just going to see military industrial complex activity going up out of sight?

Does everyone else get a safe space except for the Jews?

Are the Arabs only as good as the number of Jews (and anyone else they find “worthy”) they kill on behalf of the rest of the world? Could this explain why Europe and the US are letting “refugees” into their countries?

This last question might have startled you; but, it might be worth reading an article series that proposes that the Palestinians are where they are just so that they can finish the job Hitler started right here in Israel. Whether you find it credible or not, consider just a few things (I could insert quite a bit more, but then I’d have to put off posting even longer than I have already):

• Mr. Roth and his daughter Malki, and Sherri Mandell and her son Koby are only a couple of examples — and my dear reader must realize there are much more recent examples from Israel, like the family of Ezra Schwartz, who suffered back in November 2015 from the delay of acknowledgment of his murder from the US Government, while others who were killed contemporaneously with him were (premium link). It has become plain to many of us in Israel that America has either stopped being our friend, or possibly never has been.
• Many promises made to the Jewish People have been broken, such as the British one on partition.
• A law proposed in the Israeli Knesset to enforce financial transparency on non-governmental organizations here has been opposed in the United States, despite the fact that it has a similar law that is even harsher than the one proposed by Israel. PM Netanyahu has announced that the bill will be tweaked to better reflect the US law. We’ll see how far this gets.
• The US is now selling Israel satellite network-enabled operations aircraft (Caroline Glick points out its Internet dependency). Considering that Russia might be after control and/or destruction of the World Wide Web, and that all aircraft run on the American system must be updated after each and every flight and approved to fly or else it cannot take off, I would not be surprised if we considered a different path for our self-defense needs; and I agree with Ms. Glick that we might be better off doing so. Americans are so good at advertising, one wonders what the cost will be in the end. We could get stuck with billions of intentionally-grounded planes in the face of our well-supplied enemy bearing down on us...
• While the nations are making their ultimate plans against us, they leave us to face a continuous bitter cycle of terror. I only disagree with Esser Agaroth about the Arabs' Ultimate Goal (center of graphic below): I believe it is to play their part in fulfilling Hitler's wish to wipe us out, not just to take our land.

Used by permission from Esser Agaroth (2¢).

• UPDATE, FINAL POINT (for now): And, of course, there is the recent murder of Dafna Meir, the nurse from Otniel and mother of 6. In particular, she is an example of a special kind of Jew who is neglected even by other Jews: the "settler" or inheritor of the land. It particularly disturbed me about her when I read words attributed to Miri Regev, who attended her funeral and eulogized her:

"You are a symbol of life. Against you stood a vile murderer. This was not regular terror or an extreme religious ideology. In the name of the government I have come to ask your forgiveness. We were not able to protect you."

What did she mean, 'we were not able'? She should have said, we were not willing to do what it takes to protect ALL Israel, i.e. be sovereign here (Women for Israel's Tomorrow in particular advocates this strongly.). After all, the situation is the same today as it was when Dafna was murdered. Even though the army has taken back places they had left in the Shomron, the mentality that this land does not belong to us still remains among the Jews. We need to do teshuva because we are still not fully thankful to our Creator, Who gave it to us. I feel this is possibly another post because no other country or people is involved.

Can you murder and then inherit? This is what our blood enemies, the Arabs/Muslims and their supporters in the Catholic Church and the NWO crowd (we wrote about this beginning here and here; more details in part 1 & part 2), think they can get away with. This is one reason of zillions why I hope and trust in the One who created all: Because He promises that He will vindicate His people against these very things — especially as we approach the end that it seems everyone is feeling in one way or another.

Those who call Him the “sky fairy” or any other mocking phrase might live just long enough to regret their words. Meanwhile, we Israelis ought to insist that our government stop appeasing Hitler’s heirs and their supporters, yimach sh’mam v’zikram, particularly in this happy and auspicious season of two Adars!

More reading:

Related readings from HIRHome | The British Record on Partition | CIA-Fatah | This Ongoing War: Terror is now a legitimate career option | A New Way to Respond to BDS…part 1 | The Holocaust as white-on-white crime… | The Amish and ISIS | The Refinement of Redemption: Living with a Knife to Your Neck (audio) | How the Jews are Winning the Long Arab War | Israel and the Arabs: The Same Recycled Solutions |

Free the Jewish Political Prisoners Now!

23 Shevat 5776

UPDATE: Evyatar is out of prison! Now for Meir! See below...

Thanks to some concerned American Israelis…we can be part of a critical pidyon shevuyim (redeeming of prisoners) campaign.

HELP FREE TWO PRISONERS IN ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION 

Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim have been held imprisoned for six months, held for much of the time in solitary confinement, surrounded by Arab terrorists who threaten to kill them. Meir recently was hospitalized after collapsing during a hunger strike.  

The Israeli government has not charged Meir or Evyatar with any crime. 

The six months of administrative detention are up next week. Evyatar's order ends on Wednesday, and Meir's on Thursday. [February 3^rd and 4^th – CDG]

There is great fear and concern that Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon renew their imprisonment for another six months without charging them with any crime. 

Evyatar's mother, Gila Slonim, and Meir's grandmother, Libby Kahane, are sending a plea to every Jewish person to daven for the yeshua of the two boys. 

Names for davening:   MEIR DAVID CHAI ben TOVA and EVYATAR YISRAEL ELIYAHU ben GILA CHANA. 

[but see the end for upcoming good news about Evyatar - I am reserving further comment until he is confirmed out of prison. CDG]

Please take a few moments to write an email to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, and President Reuven Rivlin asking them to either charge Meir and Evyatar with a crime and give them a fair trial, or let them free. 

Here are their email addresses: 

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon  pniot@mod.gov.il

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

 pm_eng@pmo.gov.il   and  bnetanyahu@knesset.gov.il, 

President Reuven Rivlin  public@president.gov.il

Israeli consulate in New York: 

Tel. 212-499-500; Email: info@newyork.mfa.gov.il   

***

DS from Israel Truth Times and I wrote to the above government officials. I have posted our emails below (hers with her permission) in order to stimulate and encourage more email. You may copy elements of our emails to help you if you wish, or use your own words.

The sooner you write, the better the chances are that both young men – WHO WERE CHARGED WITH ABSOLUTELY NO CRIME – will be freed.

Here is the article Meir posted on HaKol haYehudi before he was detained. Read it and tell me, should he be in jail for it? The Delicate Bridges

***EMAILS***

Subject: Release Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim NOW (With appropriate medical treatment, of course.).

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. President and Mr. Minister of Defense:

May I briefly suggest that if you want to show that you are treating Jews and Arabs alike, you would not summarily allow Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim to die on hunger strike. Through the media we have seen the government express concern about terror-enacting Arab prisoners on hunger strikes; you can at least show the same caring for the Jews!

Not to mention that these young Jewish men have not actually committed any crimes to speak of. Writing, even expressing views displeasing to the government, is not a crime in a democratic society, such as ours purports to be. And you wonder why many Israelis want Torah governance, which is more appropriate to our people.

One more thing: Please be kind enough to restore them to health — especially Meir, since he has been going longer without food — before releasing them to their loved ones. May HaShem bless you for the efforts you make in this direction.

Many thanks.

(signature)

***

Subject: Re: your atrocious treatment of Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim

Mr Yaalon, Mr Netanyahu,  Mr Reuben Rivlin, 

It is inconceivable and beyond any civilized norms in a democratic country that people who have not been charged with any crime should be kept prisoners under administrative detention. I request of you that Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim  be freed immediately, and let them have a fair trial if necessary: everybody is INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!. Your actions are racist and done out of hatred of religious Jews, and of course also to please the nations, who hate the Jewish People anyway.

Stop trying to please the nations, our enemies who spy on us shamelessly, while you oppress our own people. 

Do you want to be known as a dark regime? Or do you want to earn the respect that a Jewish nation deserves?

Know that there is a Judge and there will be Judgment for you too, as important as you believe yourselves to be today. Remember, man is only dust, comes from dust and returns to dust. That includes you too. 

Tsedek, Tsedek Tirdof!

(signature)

UPDATES: Here is a link to yet another letter, this one from Daniel Pinner.
An op-ed by Brooklyn-based Yehuda-and-Shomron activist Robin Ticker: Stop Slandering Hilltop Youth and Let Meir Ettinger Go

***

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

PROTEST: You can go here to sign a petition that will go to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. You can look for others as well.

EDUCATE YOURSELF: Read all you can about the Hilltop Youth and lifestyle. There’s plenty of negative commentary elsewhere; here are two positive articles so far: Kumi Ori | The Baladim | More are coming. If you can, visit them. See for yourself. Be sure to wear your hiking clothes and boots!

TAKE HEART. For those who are discouraged from aliyah over this situation, I bring words straight from the heart of Dina Moskowitz from a comment she shared:

“…my dear friend…your conclusion is totally erroneous! You NEED to make aliya as soon as possible... The antisemitism in the USA and the rest of the world won't stand still, it will only get worse and lead to physical violence against Jews, G-d forbid.... Before it gets to that bad of a stage, please, [fellow American Jew], COME HOME and help us here make the country BETTER for Jews! You need Israel - and ISRAEL NEEDS YOU! Help us put real JEWISH leaders into power who care about the Jewish People and rule this country according to the Torah! And bring your like-minded family and friends here, too - the more of us here in Eretz, the more hope there is for this country's survival as a TRUE Jewish State!"

***

UPDATE:  EVYATAR WILL LEAVE PRISON, BUT MEIR GETS ANOTHER FOUR MONTHS WITHOUT CHARGES OR TRIAL. 

The Defense Ministry and Israeli Security Agency (ISA) announced Monday that nationalist activist Evyatar Slonim's administrative detention will not be extended, and he will be released in the coming days, although administrative limitations will remain in place against him...

On Monday Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) extended [Meir] Ettinger's administrative detention by yet another four months, without trial or evidence, in what Ettinger's wife Moriya told Arutz Sheva was a "political arrest" in the most severe prison branch in the country. Arutz 7

UPDATE 3/2/2016: Evyatar is out of prison! This article, in Hebrew, is from 3 February, from HaKol haYehudi (The Voice of the Jew). Nothing in English. I do find the early date odd considering what we were told above, but if the man is out of prison, all the better.

Notice I don't say "free" because there are still "conditions" as noted above. One noted in the recent article: they have forbidden him from being in touch with 42 of his friends in any way. No charges are listed against them, either... A personal note - I still rely too much on the English news; I only saw this article today, 10 February. - CDG
 

Whose Rule of Law: America’s, Europe’s, Russia’s, the UN’s — or HaShem’s?

19 Shevat 5776

The rule of law is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, as opposed to being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual government officials. More at Wikipedia

The line of questioning that I have been thinking about, concerning recent events in Israel, is: How can our leaders claim that they are promoting rule of law when they make arbitrary decisions concerning certain Jewish sub-populations, as was evident over the last five months regarding the dati-leumi (national religious) sector and a year or so ago, the haredi one? Regarding the former, it seems they believe some of them will rise up and foment revolution, overthrowing the current order; and the latter, it seems, are not willing to defend the current order by enlisting in the army. I am presenting each one’s view as best as I understand it, not based on any agreement I might have, or not, with it:

• Why would a small part of the youth of the national religious sector want to foment revolution? Because the government has been showing a particularly nasty side of itself toward them in particular: Denigrating and demonizing them and their families by calling them names (e.g., making “settler” a dirty word – my upbringing in America taught that settlers of the West were a positive phenomenon even as they were evicting an indigenous population —as, ironically, we are here) in order to make them hated among the general population; labeling young people’s desire to apprentice as farmers and ranchers on the hilltops as subversive activity; not allowing sufficient building even for natural growth; forcing families to obtain approval before purchasing property based on the area (Hevron is a HUGE example; this is not the first time it's happened here); deliberately leaving valuable territory under-protected or even unprotected…I could go on. Also, take into account that the minors among them are from a generation born during the Gush Katif expulsion and its aftermath. The older ones are from the generation immediately after the murder of R’ Meir Kahane. Both were traumatic experiences for the nation. 
• Why would the ultra-religious rabbinate enforce a non-enlistment policy, even going against the government decision to draft young haredis? Because, in their eyes, the army is a place where religious youth lose their religion — and, after all, why have Israel in the first place without that most important thing? They may gain skills useful for making money later on, courage, unity with their fellow soldiers, and so on —very positive things — but: If in the taking on of secular mores they lose their connection with G-d as they eat their food, whether kosher or not, what have they in fact gained for the rest of their lives after leaving the army? Is it freedom, or is it another step toward Jewish annihilation? 
• The leaders say that none of this is important as long as another significant sector must be considered: the Arabs, most of them Muslims, just because they happen to live among us and believe that our land is actually theirs; so, for them, it is a capital crime for Jews to be here. That means, we are under a death penalty according to them and their outside supporters. Why is that? Because the nations, led by the United Nations, forced us to keep them here, despite international law. They made their support of the newly-reinstated Jewish Homeland contingent on our respecting the rights of the Arabs as dwellers of long standing — which most of them were not, according to ordinary standards, at that time. Special standards were created for them with the help of the then-new agency for refugees, UNRWA, which was formed specifically for the Arabs of Palestine and not even for Jewish refugees from the Holocaust and from the Arab world.
•  And why did the nations force us to go through all this trouble, knowing that we had just gone through attempted genocide, for which the term was, in fact, invented to describe? Because in the end they are conspirators in our expected demise, willing or not. They want every single Jew dead. Even conversions won’t be enough for them; even at the risk of the implosion that will follow according to Jeremiah 31:30 to the end, if they even believe it and understand its implications.

So, whose rule of law are we following? That of the nations, whose goal is to oversee our destruction, or that of the Torah, which only wants to see us grow and thrive without fear?

These are not theoretical questions. I may be sitting in the comfort of my home office, but I am quite aware of the world outside my window. I arrived in this country shortly before the massacre of the students at the Mercaz haRav Yeshiva, merely blocks from my apartment; I was rudely awakened the morning of the Har Nof massacre by ambulances madly rushing to the scene there. I have been here for everything that has occurred between these horrifying events, and since then as well. No thanks to you, nations of the world, for enforcing the rule of death-to-the-Jews here.

This is not to say that Jews have not been cooperating with this evil agenda. Unfortunately, we have a strategically-placed and -supported coterie of them exactly where they will do us the most harm.

For instance: We noted here last August that a former Shaba”k agent criticized the government for not enforcing laws against “a group of fundamentalist ideological criminals that see no justice.” By contrast, we have at least dozens of street videos from CCTV cameras (one good thing: A telephone pole can’t have an agenda…only human beings can) of Arabs openly slaughtering Jews in broad daylight, with no shame. (But, fortunately, we have the comment from a young Arab woman who wishes the Palestinian “enterprise” would fail if it is built on murder of the innocent. I wish that the majority of our Arab population were like her. As it is, we have just enough of them to prove there was a path in the road many could have taken, but chose not to.)

Not very long ago, Jerusalem Post readers found out from Caroline Glick that at the same time that the Israeli government has been assuming that Arabs have been engaged in lone-wolf attacks since last September, we received a message from the United States that Israel is at fault for their bloodthirstiness, the Council of Europe announced that it was finalizing its rules for labeling anything made by Jews outside the “green line” for sale in Europe,  giving a “green light” to Arab-on Jewish violence in Israel; also, the US State Department condemned perfectly normal and lawful Israeli policies in the Jordan Valley, “followed immediately by a similar condemnation by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a call by the PA for a UN Security Council resolution against Israel.”

We knew that the Arab so-called Palestinians were getting help from a lot of places. But did anyone imagine that our so-called best friend, the United States would coordinate an invasion with multiple parties designed to destroy Israel politically — meaning the immediate military invasion and fall of the country? That is what Caroline Glick is saying. They want the end of Israel, followed by the end of the Jewish People. Now.

Meanwhile, back home, words attributed to Moshe “Boogie” Ya’alon, who was then busy evacuating people who bought their homes in Hevron:

"The state of Israel is a state of law, and I do not intend to compromise when the law is breached. In the case of the buildings in Hevron, the law was systematically breached. In order to enter a home several legal activities are required, and none of them were conducted. Therefore the squatters were evicted."

None? If what is said here is true, then if paying money for property and having proof of sale isn’t a legal activity required to possess and live in a house or apartment, then something smells fishy in Yerushalayim and they can smell it all the way to Hevron. How can a properly-conducted real estate transaction not be legal or relevant? Calling people who paid money to transfer ownership “squatters” is a gross, demeaning distortion of the meaning of the word, no matter what else hadn’t been done.

Arutz Sheva staff reports, “The "legal activities" mentioned refer to the draconian limitations placed on Jews in Hevron, who are required to receive approval for purchases, have security clearance and also receive approval from the political echelon before buying a new home.” 

Some back-and-forth is going on as to whether the new homeowners will be able to take full possession of their property.

Is the point of all this to make Israel, our gift from G-d, a living hell on earth for Jews using the law as its tool? May G-d protect us and deliver us speedily into the arms of Mashiach and Torah governance, the rule of the Creator (HaShem, no substitutes please.). And may the rest of the world should realize that all the attacks on Jewish sovereignty and ownership within our own land must stop. Now. 

If you have been able to read the signs whenever something bad happens against the Jews in Israel and something similar happens in your country shortly thereafter, and you understand that the Great Judgment Day is around the corner, you know that what’s good for the Jews is good for the rest of the world too. The “rule of law” demands it. Speak up, in the name of human decency! This is a major step towards salvation at a time when most will not be saved.

The Ten Commandments are highly recommended to start with. Or the Seven Noahide Laws.

Caroline Glick opposes the notion that Israel is destroying itself with its settlement policy at the Royal Geographical Society, UK, 15/1/2013. H/T to Shiloh Musings (she has a shorter version of this speech.).

Read Entire Articles Here:

The Obama Administration’s Most Covert War | The Way Out of Oslo | Dafna Meir, hy”d, Opposed Arab Laborers | Meet the Jewish Hilltops: The Baladim | Heavy Fallout over Ya’alon’s Eviction of Hevron Jews | Coordinated Assault | Hevron and the Fall of Israel’s Government | Meir Ettinger Hunger Strike | OPED: Post-modern cultural totalitarianism has changed the very nature of man | The [US] State Department’s Anti-Palestinian Racism |

R' Sprecher Gems on Tu b'Shevat

Erev T"u b'Shevat 5776

Almond blossoms have the nicest scent, too. Thanks to Creative Jewish Mom.

 Tu B'Shvat: Why the Torah Compares a Human Being to a Tree

The source for Tu B'Shvat is the opening Mishnah of the Talmudic Tractate Rosh Hashana: "The Academy of Hillel taught that the 15th of Shvat is the New Year for the Trees."

 What does that mean, "New Year for the Trees?"

 Tu B'Shvat is technically the day when trees stop absorbing water from the ground and instead draw nourishment from their sap. In Halacha, this means that fruit which has blossomed prior to the 15th of Shvat could not be used as tithe for fruit which blossomed after that date.

 So what relevance does this have for us in the 21st century, when most of us are not farmers? In various places, the Bible compares a person to a tree:

• A person is like the tree of a field…" (Dvorim 20:19)
• For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people." (Isaiah 65:22)
• He will be like a tree planted near water…" (Jeremiah 17:8)

Why the comparison? A tree needs the four basic elements in order to survive – earth, water, air and fire (sunshine). Human beings also require the same basic elements. Let us see how by analyzing these four essential elements individually.

Earth: A tree needs to be planted firmly in the earth. The soil is not only the source through which nourishment is absorbed, but also provides room for the roots to grow.

This is true of a person as well. The Talmud explains; "A person whose wisdom exceeds his good deeds is likened to a tree whose branches are numerous, but whose roots are few. The wind comes and uproots it and turns it upside down. But a person whose good deeds exceed his wisdom is likened to a tree whose branches are few but whose roots are numerous. Even if all the winds of the world were to come and blow against it, they could not budge it from its place." (Avot 3:22)

A person can appear successful on the outside. "But if the roots are few" — if there is little connection to one's community and Torah heritage — then life can send challenges that are impossible to withstand. "A strong wind can turn the tree upside down." A person alone is vulnerable to trends and fads that may lead to despair and destruction. But, if a person — irrespective of wealth and status — is connected to his community and Torah heritage, then "even if all the winds of the world were to come and blow against it, they could not budge it from its place."

People require a strong home base, where Judaism's values and morals are absorbed, and which provide a supportive spiritual growth environment.

Water: Rain-water is absorbed into the ground and — through an elaborate system of roots — is carried throughout the trunk, branches and leaves of the tree. Without water, the tree will wither and die. The Torah is compared to water, as Moses proclaims: "May my teaching drop like the rain" (Dvorim 32:2). Both rain and Torah descend from the heavens and provide relief to the thirsty and parched. The Torah flows down from G-d and has been absorbed by Jews in every generation. Torah gives zest and vitality to the human spirit. A life based on Torah will blossom with wisdom and good deeds.

Deprived of water, a person will become dehydrated and ultimately disoriented, even to the point where they may not be able to recognize their own father. So too, without Torah, a person becomes disoriented — to the extent that they may not even recognize their Father in Heaven.

Air: A tree needs air to survive. The air contains oxygen that a tree needs for respiration, and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. In an imbalanced atmosphere, the tree would suffocate and die.

The Torah (Bereishit 2:7) states that "G-d breathed life into the form of Man." The Hebrew word for "breath" — nesheema — is the same as the word for "soul" — neshama. Our spiritual life force comes, metaphorically, by way of air and respiration.

We use our senses of taste, touch and sight to perceive physical matter. (Even "hearing" involves the perception of sound waves). But "smelling" is the most spiritual of senses, since the least "physical matter" is involved. As the Talmud says (Brachot 43b); "Smell is that which the soul benefits from and the body does not."

In the Holy Temple, the daily incense offering (sense of smell) was elevated to the once-a-year Yom Kippur offering in the Holy of Holies. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 93a) also says that when the Messiah comes, he will "smell and judge" — that is, he will use his spiritual sensitivity to determine the truth about complex matters.

Fire: A tree also needs fire — sunshine — to survive. The absorption of energy from the sunlight activates the process of photosynthesis, a chemical reaction that is essential for the growth and health of the tree.

People too need the physical warmth of fire and sunshine to survive. But we also need to absorb and reflect the spiritual warmth and sunshine of friendship, which is the essence of Judaism. As the Torah states in Vayikra 19:18, "Love your friend as yourself." And Rabbi Akiva states that this verse is the greatest principle of the Torah (Talmud Yerushalmi, Nedarim, Chapter 9.) Source

***

 Skywriting The Ten Commandments

"And all the people saw the sounds (of the Ten Commandments)" (Shemot 20:15). The Kli Yakar explains this verse as meaning that the Jewish People actually saw the words of the Ten Commandments, as they were being proclaimed by G-D. Each Jew saw the Holy Letters being formed in mid-air, as if G-D was actually doing skywriting.

Why was this necessary, given that the Jews also heard these very same words being spoken by G-D. The Chidushei Harim presents an amazing answer to this question. Without actually seeing the words of the Ten Commandments, the word "LO-DO NOT" could be misinterpreted. The word "LO" meaning "DO NOT" and "LO" with a VAV meaning "to him," are pronounced the exact same way but are spelled differently. This can cause a major misunderstanding if the words are only heard and not seen.

For example, the prohibition of murder, "LO TIRTSACH," if only heard, could instead be interpreted as "LO TIRTSACH" with a VAV instead of an ALEF. IT would them mean, "For His sake (G-D), you may murder." It is just amazing how the Parsha of the week speaks to Current Events. Our so called "Peace Partners," always invoke G-D's name in order to justify their murder of Jews. In fact, Abu Mazen's murderous incitement of his people against the Jews, is all the sake of "Allah."

Thus, we have a duty and an obligation to proclaim loud and clear to our Arab cousins "Do not murder in the name of your god." Source

 Happy T"u b'Shevat!