Achdut among Rabbinic Leadership, by R' Kenneth Cohen

9 Tevet 5784 | ט' טבת ה'תשפ"ד

 

One of the important parts of the new Israel order: the Sanhedrin. Source

 

 

 

NB: Achdut = unity. Probably the best idea I've seen in years, if not in my lifetime! Toward the impending geulah shlemah!...be"H. - HDG

Used with permission. Source

 

  From the time of Moshe Rabbeinu, until the year 358 CE., there was a legislative body known as the Sanhedrin. It consisted of seventy of the greatest scholars in Israel.

The Sanhedrin was viewed and accepted as the ruling body of Jewish Law. It was forbidden to challenge these rulings.

The Torah speaks of the זקן ממרא, who was a judge of a lower court, who defied the Sanhedrin. He was put to death for such defiance.

Aside from the end to the declaration of the New Moon by way of the Sanhedrin, their dissolution, represented much more. A set calendar was established with seven leap years every nineteen years, when they last met in Tiberius in 358. This may have been seen as a positive outcome, but it was mostly tragic when we lost this accepted ruling body.

It represented the dispersion of Jews to all parts of the world. This dispersion also represented the fact that there was no longer one accepted authority, followed by all Jews.

Over the centuries, the divisions among Jews became more pronounced. Various communities followed the teachings of “their” rabbis, and were not connected to other Jews in a uniform manner.

This became even more pronounced in our generation. Everyone has their rabbi, and their accepted standards of Kashrut. There are differences among Chassidic and Lithuanian Jewry, and among Ashkenazim and Sephardim. There are major differences of opinion regarding the State of Israel and the IDF.

All of this, got me thinking about the current situation we are in. We constantly hear how special it was when the war broke out. There was incredible “Achdut,” or Jewish unity. Many, like Yechiel Leiter, whose eldest son fell in battle, has emphasized that his beloved son, Moshe, will not have died in vain, as long as the Achdut continues.

If this Achdut is so important,(and it definitely is), why can’t there be Achdut among the rabbis, who continue to represent views that are very different from those of other groups?

Why can’t we demand that they all “bury the hatchet,” and learn to find common ground? Why can’t they agree that there should be only one definition and label of Kashrut? Why can’t they all agree to salute our holy soldiers of the IDF? Why can’t they find a way to accept a uniform of Halacha, as existed in the days of the Sanhedrin?

If the nation as a whole is urged to be united, because our enemies do not differentiate as to what kind of Jew they want to kill, how much more should our rabbinic leaders learn to be united?

We need them to guide us as to how to be united. What kind of example do they set, when there is so much factionalizing? We need to at least express these ideas. Perhaps someone is listening and will act on this cry for unity. Hopefully, all of the Jewish people will wake up and stand together. We are one family with one G-d guiding us. Let’s hope this can be done now, and it won’t take the Mashiach to get this done. If we do achieve this unity on all levels, including the rabbis, that might be the very thing that will hurry the coming of the Mashiach speedily in our time. 

***

More reading: 

Dear World, pardon us for busting your myths against Jews and Israel, part 1 Part 2  Part 3 | Minister of Defense [finally says] 'Stop using the term "Settlers' Violence"' |

 

It's God and Torah Time for the People of Israel!

29 Kislev 5784 |  כ"ט כסלו ה'תשפ"ד
5th candle of Hanukkah | נר חמישי של חנוכה

 

 NB: Credit for the title of this post is below, near the end.

 

At the same time the war between Israel and Hamas continues, last week some of the women in my neighborhood got together to make plain tambourines into decorations for the glory of God and to entice Him to bring the Geulah Shlemah now! The tambourine pictured in the video above (you will see it and others through their design development) in the end bears a message from Tehillim/Psalms 42:3: My soul thirsts...for the Living God. The whole thing is 1:20.

 ***

The two paragraphs below contain an observation and an insight, in that order, that I had last week:

Over an extended period of time, the Muslims have very well proved themselves to be the children of Hagar, their mother; now, let them prove themselves to be children of Avraham Avinu, their father and ours. Hospitality is not enough to get them there; they also have to recognize their cousins, the children of Yitzhak-and-Ya'acov, in a positive manner. 

A hint to the evil of their behavior: Their epithet "itbakh al-Yahud" not only means "slaughter the Jew" but also "slaughter gratefulness"! "Yahud" in Arabic is equivalent to the Hebrew "Yehudim", from Yehuda, whom Leah, the mother of most Jews, named out of her gratefulness to HQB"H (the Holy One, blessed be He) for having more than filled her quota of sons.

In our day, we can learn precisely from this why Jews are counted by who their mother is, and not by their father, because the mother inspires the heart of the children from the time they spend in her womb and throughout childhood. 

The tribal assignation comes from the father, and a Jewish woman marries into her husband's tribe. This is a point most of us do not think about much; we are busy enough just trying to keep Jews going in our family tree! But there will come a problem in the not-so-distant future: Jews who have Jewish mothers, but who have no Jewish father, have no tribe! (This is more relevant for the men than for the women, since the latter marry into their husband's tribe, as mentioned above, and it could be relevant only to American Jews.) Where will they be able to live in Eretz haQodesh when the time comes? Who will decide this: Mashiah, the Sanhedrin or the rabbis of that day? This comes straight from the book of Shemoth (Exodus in English)...

The possibility remains that some of the fathers who assumed they weren't Jews will be called and set apart as Jews by the prophet Eliyahu, and will thus gain a tribe they thought they wouldn't be part of.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. First things first.

We are in a quandary with regard to our goal for this war. We want — no, we need — to win. But because even if we call out our enemy for who he is — Amalek — we will not be allowed to kill all of them as God commanded, due to the government's submission to powers that shouldn't be, of the sort that play both sides of wars all the time and who do things far worse than anything we've ever done in our long history.

Our Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, may God bless him with wisdom, has been quoted as saying that he both wants (and would adopt the Hebrew calendar as standard. What? We didn't do that already? It's not a religious practice so much as the time keeper we were given...) and doesn't want a Biblical/Talmudic government. 

I tend to believe the second one more. It seems to be the desire of those in charge of keeping the status quo of the Israeli government system to keep people afraid of having a governance we haven't had in almost 2,000 years; it's easy to keep the civilians and the army vets alike afraid of the unknown, unless they're growing up with the Tana"ch. Years ago I noticed this in myself, so I've been working on it ever since my days among the nations when it occurred to me that every news story about Israel was specifically designed to keep diaspora Jews afraid even to visit, never mind decide that a long-neglected set of commandments from God should be taken out from between, or under, the mothballs in the place where they have been kept safely hidden away from the very people who should benefit from it.

But more than the state of our government, it's the paradigm we've been living under that bothers me more. 

Sitting at the feet of the "democracy" enforcers in Europe and the United States, learning from them, taking their side on everything, and taking orders from them constantly for the more than 75 years since Israel became a "state" have kept us from examining our own God-given indigenous governance. On the other hand, our neighbors and cousins nearby don't believe in democracy, and many actually believe we're not the descendants of the Hebrews/Israelites in the Bible.

Or, at least, that's what they say. Maybe these objections are nothing more than excuses to engage in war and bloodshed, which they have loved for thousands of years and graphically displayed to the world with pride and pleasure on Simchath Torah/October 7th, 2023 with the massacre on the area we call the Gaza Envelope. Maybe they think it will be extremely easy to wipe us off the face of the earth (I picked up a possible clue that soon we'll be seeing similar things about the South of Israel, near the Negev) because our numbers have been small for an extremely long time due to constant attempts at genocide.

There, I've said it. GENOCIDE. It seems that's what the world wants now, for us to disappear from the earth, and they will enforce it violently, or allow others to do so.

(So, what should we in Israel look out for? Maybe of what R' Uri Sofer has to say about the dangers from within HERE: AUDIO ONLY, Hebrew with interspersed English translation, over one (1) hour. Tehillim recitations are followed by the speech and its translation. 

Let's shake off the psychological operations that have been done on us, dividing us and taking advantage of a divided people, and plead to HaQadosh Baruch Hu together for salvation!)

Those three Ivy League-level presidents of US universities (they weren't all Ivy League, but have pretty much equal status in the hierarchy of educational institutions) all hedged on the question from Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R, NY) of whether threats of genocide were acceptable on campus. One of them, Lisa McGill, stepped down from her more-than-$2M-a-year job last Saturday, 9 December 2023/Shabbat Hanukkah 5784.

This comes from a long history of antisemitism in the US as well as the rest of the world. Here is a SEARCH on how antisemitism became an American crisis, which no one expected (so what else is new? No one expected it in Germany either...). I'm catching the search engines at their peak of Jew defense. Try this search again to see if it remains as positive and sympathetic as it looks at this writing.

***

 

It's G-d and Torah time for the people of Israel

CREDIT: This video is where I got the title for this post because it's so appropriate. Tzvi here talks about the "social ghettos" Israelis live in, how many of us never meet people outside our ghetto — and how our governance system encourages and enforces this dysfunction within the country, along with other related things. Can you see the connection to all our troubles and our latest war? This is the clearest video I could find with a short message (a tad over 18 minutes). 

EVERY LITTLE MITZVAH A JEW DOES IN THESE TIMES HAS GREAT VALUE. ALL THE MORE SO IF WE DO THEM AS A PEOPLE, A NATION.

Have a happy, happy, happy, happy Hanukkah!

 ***

 More Reading: 

From the Women for Israel's Tomorrow:  The People Stand Behind the Government [when it says - HDG] We Will Not Stop Until We are Victorious! | Shall they murder and inherit as well? | in JNS: There is no victory without Israeli control over Gaza | ...a few quick responses to some events, statements and headlines | Gaza: Because it's ours: Analysis | ...a very expensive and dangerous price to pay in exchange for the American embrace | Moshe Feiglin: This War is about Identity

***

Why it seems our teshuva is not accepted | What we must tell Blinken | Man who harassed black neighbor in 2021 gets 8 years in jail in 2023, genocide not mentioned | Israel-Hamas war: Israeli government on hostage operations (VIDEO) | Your Nation is Calling! | Analyst: 'American pressure is making us bleed' | The truth behind the fake 'settler violence' campaign | This is how a case against those pesky settlers is made | Sudan's refugee crisis is far worse than Gaza's. Why don't we hear about it? | Has the West signed up en masse to Nazism scripted by Kafka?

 

The Jewish People Needs a Whole New System!

light of 15 Kislev 5784 | אור ט"ו כסלו ה'תשפ"ד

 

The Truth about Israel...Cutting Through the Psyops and Lies 

"When the Jewish People are willing to stand up and say the truth, that God gave us this Land, in public, we will not need to go to war; we will not even need weapons..." —Shifra Chana Hendrie, quoting Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Warning: Men, if you're careful about guarding your eyes, you may want to listen rather than watch the video.

Now, I want to make clear that I am not Chabad (nor am I affiliated with any specific Jewish group, for that matter); I'm just citing a source as I know I should, for such a quote! The truth is that no matter what the results, we should state loud and clear, "in front of God and everybody" the truth about the land the Jews of Israel live in. 

"It is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations." BaMidbar/Numbers 23:9

If you don't like the above, I guess you shouldn't follow any religion that states this truth in their primary source, whether it be the Torah, the Christian bible or the Quran.

We see the results of having given physical and moral support to our neighbors, the Arabs who surround Israel and live within her. Not very nice, is it, to say the least.

The system we have lived under for more than 75 years has failed, having ended up in (hopefully, the last) war. We will not allow this to take us out...WITH THE HELP OF GOD!!!!!

Along with Him, we are JEALOUS OVER THE LAND HE GAVE US, and thankful for His choice of us as HIS PEOPLE!!!!! Our enemies, on the other hand, are envious of us and have been trying to divest us of any desire to cling to the Land for over 75 years. The Muslims who front for them have their own rule from the Quran that if they conquer a land and a people, they own them forever (they say "the Jews are our dogs"...sound familiar?), while Israel's leadership has done everything they can to keep certain Jewish population groups down and unsuccessful, even resorting to name-calling. 

God told us that some lands aren't ours until He says so, but that the lands we hold now are part of the lands He told Moshe Rabbenu are ours. It is up to Him and to us whether we get the rest or not.

We shall see whose rules stand the test of time, and whether the Muslims really believe in God, or in opposition to Him. For that matter, will Israel's leadership believe enough in God and the Torah (let alone the Talmud) to even desire to hold on to what we have, by the hand of God?

(It wouldn't surprise me if I were to see evidence that Israelis' tax monies are being used to support the Arabs' takeover of the Holy Land, in the name of "peace." It's bad enough that US, Canadian and European money is being passed to them, but for us to fund our own demise — What???!!!)

Watch this video (over an hour) for the surprising details:

Growing Arab Muslim Antisemitism Due to Internal Israel Issues

or click on the video on the top of the sidebar on the right, as long as it's there.

***

The rest of the post features a few of the many enablers of Israel's physical and psychological woes.  One thing to keep in mind:

The more the nations condemn Israel for striking back and even overdoing it (as they perceive it), the more they are pushing us to consider changing over to Torah law, rather than what passes for law now. Do they have a clue as to the significance of the changes in many Jews, both in Israel and among the nations, due directly to the worldwide antisemitism that has manifested in the most virulent way ever, in collective living memory?

 The more you force us back together, the more clarity there is in the collective punishment you are imposing on us (but see below, it seems the Muslims have also been imposing collective punishment on all Jews!). Therefore, you should expect collective punishment of our enemies from God Almighty, whether through our hands or not!

***

A note to PM Netanyahu: The government has a deadline with the proposed global government (the WHO) of 1 DECEMBER 2023 (this is true of all the governments in the world, by the way). You may want to check this out independently, pronto (here's a shortcut) if you haven't already. LAST CHANCE NOW! Since we're in a war for our survival literally on our soil, with more threatened to come, the country really can't be bothered with deadlines that might divert our attention from...let's just say...more important things.

***

One of my pet peeves for decades is the women's rights movement that doesn't really seem to fight for women's rights. I noticed this when I saw that they didn't put up any fuss when it became known that Arab women are really in desperate need of advocates for their rights, back in the '90s. Not that there wasn't anything against Jews going on, see below.

I don't often have the opportunity to express it, as we do now. I have a message today for the UN WOMEN...

UN WOMEN, YOUR SILENCE IS UNFORGIVABLE.

Whether you, dear reader, are a woman or a man...I've joined many others who signed THIS PETITION. I encourage everyone to stand up for the women, girls and baby girls of the Israeli border of Gaza who were victims of the SIMCHAT TORAH MASSACRE in many nightmare-making ways. Kindly let me know in the comments if you do, or have already signed. 

I've been slow as usual, having this post in editing over a month. Sorry about that.

I also recognize that the men, boys and baby boy victims deserve the same attention. Justice for all! 

You know what? Sign the petition even if you advocate only for the male victims' rights. The site is named "me too--unless you are a jew" for a reason. And no, I'm not part of it in any way. I just received an email from a friend, that's all.

***

You should know that Israel did not plot to massacre all "Palestinian" Arabs, never mind all Arabs. They struck first! We live "next door" on all sides to neighbors who keep trying to murder us. We were forced to accept them (at least on the physical level) since that was one of the conditions of our having a state. Thus, we must have firm boundaries between us and them in order to get along at all. Since the boundaries were breached, we say: NO MORE, THIS HAS TO STOP! As far as I am concerned, THEY CAN NO LONGER LIVE NEXT TO US.

What would you do if you had a murderer for a neighbor, but the rest were good? A pedophile? Would you be the one to leave the neighborhood, or would you insist that the murderer or pedophile leave?

What would you do if...you had an alternative in your back pocket the whole time and didn't use it because our people didn't want it even during the period of the Kings of Israel. We call it "politically incorrect" nowadays; it seems that Bibi EITHER promised to adopt the Hebrew calendar and make the court system based on Talmudic law OR Israel will not be governed by Talmudic law. (Both from Times of Israel! Horrible and hilarious at the same time!)

Our primary source document is called the Tana"ch; it stands for Torah, Prophets and Writings. In English, it's called the Bible (I think my readers know this, but it's always good to have a reminder.). I'd like to see all the Israelis I've heard about who returned their thoughts to God since the Simchat Torah massacre looked more closely at what's involved in having a unique Jewish government, and find out what they think, in the light of this latest attempt at genocide in our homeland. 

I think we need to consider how our current system is failing us miserably, even as we try to get our hostages back, including children aged 4 and 8 (who I think turned 9 in captivity, if it was Emily Hand they were referring to) in exchange for Arab teenage boys 14 years old and up caught attempting murder by shooting, stabbing and more. (This reminds me of about ten years ago, when throwing stones and boulders wasn't considered a crime in Yehuda and Shomron. These things, used as weapons, kill, and I hope by now that our system recognizes them as such, anywhere remotely resembling Jewish soil and certainly within "recognized" Israeli territory.)

What could be worse than giving our enemy (freeing) actual criminals who were serving jail time in exchange for our kidnapped hostages, and three times as many of their guilty ones as of our innocent ones? 

There is a HUGE difference in quality between people taken hostage, as opposed to criminals caught attempting murder. Attempted murder is a serious crime anywhere else, and people who did this are being released as though they're the same as people taken captive. 

It seems as though Israel is sending the message that they are the same here. This cannot continue if we intend to survive anywhere in the world, never mind as Jews in our homeland after a couple thousand years in exile. And so I ask...

WHERE IS KFIR, THE BABY BOY LESS THAN A YEAR OLD???
HOW IS HE THE SAME AS AN ATTEMPTED MURDERER???
WHAT DID HE DO TO DESERVE BEING KIDNAPPED AND IN CAPTIVITY???

These are serious violations of derekh eretz, common decency, not to mention current law. Don't you think it's about time we searched our own primary sources for the replacement of our current governance, since it has proven it can be, and has been, influenced by the evil of the world?

***

I got an email recently from an organization that claims it has been raising money to provide defense materials for the periphery of Israel (the "Gaza envelope", Judea and Samaria, northern Israel) for the last 30 years. Here's what I wrote back:

I understood that all the weapons were taken away by the army BEFORE the massacre in Otef Aza, and have been (and maybe still are being) taken away from the towns of Judea/Samaria. Wouldn't you want to check out whether the weapons you gave the border communities, as well as Yehuda and Shomron, were taken away as well?

I was visiting Israel in August 2005, when Gush Katif was about to be expelled by the army from what we know as Gaza today, I was here on the very day they were expelled,  and I made aliyah in 2007. I do not trust the government when it comes to these sorts of things. It would seem that the money people donated to your organization might have been a waste back in 2005.

I like your idea very much, but I think somebody should be making sure that anything (in this case, weaponry) provided by the public's money donated for defense purposes should be left with the citizens that are holding it. It is a weak hope I hold that this was the case back in 2005, and even weaker that it was the case before the current Arab war against the Jews, supported by governments around the world and, it would seem, even Israel itself, began on Simchat Torah 5784.

***

The Zionist Organization of America (I have always understood them to be referring to Zion which is Yerushalayim, not as the stolen term of the erev rav) demanded recently that Al-Azhar University revoke their all-encompassing fatwa against the Jewish People in Israel. This fatwa (decree) is evidence that the Muslims here are ordered to WIPE US OUT. It would be embarrassing for them to have to deny its existence, since they're so proud of their Jew-hatred and especially their hatred of Israel and Israelis, including non-combatant women and children (sound familiar?). I also wonder from whom the "University" received the order to make their fatwa against us. More about sharia law: books by Andrew Bostom.

ZOA also published a report: Children as young as 10 took part in Hamas' Oct. 7 Terror Attack, survivors say

  Please read it. It should speak for itself. You don't need me to tell you whether or not Gazan civilians participated in the massacre.

***

The last thing you should know: "hamas" חמס is biblical Hebrew for robbery (Bereshith/Genesis 6:11), injustice (Bereshith/Genesis 6:11 and 16:5; Tehillim/Psalms 25:19) and fraudulent (Shemoth/Exodus 23:1) according to Artscroll's supercommentary on Rashi there. Rashi also notes that in the passage in Jonah 3:8, the word hamas is used in the last phrase in the verse ("...and from the robbery that is in their hands") to indicate that the people of Nineveh had stolen goods in their possession. 

Hamas (the thing the organization is named after) is the sin that tipped the scales and made God decide to wipe the earth nearly clean of mankind and Creation itself. Fortunately for us all, God has been patient and kind, allowing the world to develop these last several thousand years; but now, we must choose the side we'll be on for eternity.

Choose wisely, Official Israel (whether in the current government coalition or in the opposition). Do you want to be identified with the evil of the rest of the world's leadership? I for one don't want to be dragged down with you, should you so choose.

Let's pray that our leadership doesn't make a mockery of our upcoming Hanukkah!

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

***

Clarification of the Jews' place in the world, in three videos, and more

 4 Heshvan 5784 | ד' חשון ה'תשפ"ג

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR2cnHt9Fgo

 

One small correction: We are not the authors of morality. God, the Creator of everything, is; Moshe Rabbenu took dictation from Him directly, to put it in modern terms. Moshe also asked Him questions and wrote down (at least some of) these conversations.

The normal term for this is: Revelation.

 

This is not a small thing; I don't mean to make fun of Moshe, or of the video host, who seems to be from England (if someone knows more precisely, please comment!). I find his viewpoint refreshing and unapologetic without being arrogant. I hope this video will give strength to the weary. 

 

This ambitious young man has begun a video series about Torah Morality for the World, starting with this one, Who Does the Holy Land Belong To? — Torah Morality for the World, #1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqz3K5ZkE7I

 

You'll find the creators of these two videos on the sidebar  under the section "Get Israel Out of the Defendant's Chair" 🢥: J-TV: Jewish Ideas. Global Relevance.  

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNf40sBcvKk

This videographer is Israeli; I thought you'd like to hear his view as well. He requires real proof from people who disagree with him concerning the rights of the Jews to the Holy Land.

These are just a small sample of what's coming up. I had never seen or heard of these people before.

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Lastly, R' Chananya Weissman: The Bitter Truth That Must Be Accepted

I have heard that the government is making/has made a law that Israelis who disagree with their conduct of the war will be punished/put in jail (I'm pretty sure I read it recently, but I don't remember where.). I don't think this is the right move, since our leadership hasn't yet overcome the tendency to become "captive in wrong conceptions." 

I don't want to avoid reality, but I also hope this isn't true. We don't need leadership to be in denial. Please send me links one way or the other; I can't find them.

Nevertheless, don't blame the entire world Jewish population for this decision (if it was even made) or any decision like it. Do not apply everything you read about a Jew, or even a group of Jews, to all Jews. It has never worked that way.

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My personal opinion: The Israeli government system needs a complete overhaul, and nothing less will do. When this "matzav" is over, I'd like to see how many people will welcome a new religious system for the Jewish people in Israel. 

The signs are good. After all, the current drive for every soldier to own and wear tzitzit is driven by our soldiers themselves. Even the ones who don't wear a kippah/yarmulke. I have videos on my phone that attest to this, but I don't know how to get them here for you to see.

And lots of women are reading and reciting Tehillim (Psalms) all the time, all day long.

We need to keep this up!

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More reading:

The creeping war that isn't making any news headlines | Critical words from Rav Shlomo Yehuda (Yanuka) H/T Tomer Devorah | URGENT - What Gazans need to know NOW! - VIDEO, Arabic subtitles H/T Brucha Weisberger | Warships in Cheshvan |