02 October 2024

HaShem's wisdom shines above all! He is allowing our military to beat our enemies, to whatever extent...

Erev Rosh HaShana 5785

29 Elul 5784 | כ"ט אלול ה'תשפ"ד


It takes not only a great idea, but also the ideal circumstances to create around it, the timing to make it shine brightly, and be of ultimate usefulness.

So it is in war as well.

A word to the wise, especially in the Israeli Government:

Please stop preventing Jews from observing our God-given mitzvot - separating men and women at High Holidays services, for example. Not only is it bad in and of itself, it's also hypocritical, since you allow Muslims to observe it, but not Jews. 

What is wrong with your eyesight and your memory? Don't you see now that bad things follow refusal to observe at least Shabbat and the High Holidays properly? 

Don't you remember that the "OCTOBER SEVENTH" massacre occurred after you did those terrible things? HaShem didn't even let the holidays end before it happened...

Many Jews who didn't previously observe Shabbat are doing so now. The majority is now increasing, and if you have any regard for your precious "demokratia," you cannot ignore it.

Someone should have made the Tel Aviv mayor reverse his decision last year. You can still do so for this year, if you hurry. Let's take responsibility for what is ours to do, and then we can expect others to follow for what is theirs.

Shana tova umetukah to all Jews everywhere...may we see the revelation of our precious, long-awaited Mashiah this coming year.

HaShem is still with us, giving us wisdom and the means to carry it out against our enemies. Please give credit where credit is due, and do what is right. It's only derekh eretz / common decency. 

We're still in the middle of the war...oy. Something still isn't right. But life goes on...

Happy Jewish New Year; Happy Birthday, Mankind!

[birthday picture would have gone here if I could download it; things have changed.]

04 September 2024

The rejected song, October Rain: some thoughts

Rosh Hodesh Elul 5784 | ר"ח אלול ה'תשפ"ד
A good and blessed month | חודש טוב ומבורך


Blogger's note: I am making an unusual request: Before looking at the video, readers might want to listen to the song first: Scroll down to the video and start playing it, and immediately scroll back up here, before you get very far into the video. After you hear it, you can think about the question I am asking below, and then watch the video and see if that makes a difference in how you think of the song.

And, of course, read the rest of the post. 😉

I estimated the amount of space it might take to allow for that, and it might not be useful for everyone. I apologize for that in advance. -HDG

***






After finally hearing this song and choosing to blog about it, I have a question...

WHAT WAS SO "POLITICAL" ABOUT THE SONG, OCTOBER RAIN, THAT EUROVISION HAD TO BAN IT FROM THE COMPETITION?

Does anyone believe that the song's raison d'être will be so obvious five years from the event we know now? Especially if it is unaccompanied by a video?

I think that if it had been perceived as standing for anything else other than the tragedy suffered by Jews in Israel on October 7, 2023 at the hands of enemies who want all Jews dead, and that a Jewess from Israel was going to sing it, it would have been accepted with open arms. 

(You'll notice that someone else is singing it, someone quite unexpected. I got it from HERE.)

Others did suffer as well, but no one seems to remember that, either.

The anniversary is coming up next month. What do you think?

I have not lost my hope and prayer that the ultimate good will come. But we will need to embrace it when it comes, rather than expecting more of the same old, same old thing we've been living with for the past 75+ years.

Have a good Hebrew month of Elul. May my readers merit to be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for a good year...and more, in Tishrei 5785.

***

More reading: 

Push to annex parts of Gaza to penalize Hamas, resurrect settlements | Biden negotiating Gaza deal not with Netanyahu, but with Qatar and Egypt | As US government & media squeeze of Netanyahu gets crazy tight, one NYT pundit gets it right | IDF Chief of Ground Forces resigns | Hamas has proven that they are Nazis. You don't negotiate with Nazis... | Shmuel Sackett: And now what? | Myrtle Rising: Why it's good for Am Yisrael to dwell alone, plus more |

 

More viewing:

Hostages murdered by Hamas, and the reaction of Israel's Left | "Settlers steal furniture from Ibrahimi Mosque! Shocking video!" | It's Elul — Time for [Sefaradi/Mizrahi] Selichot! H/t Tomer Devorah | Read-and-watch (could this be an acronym: RAW?): Hillel Neuer on Newsmax: The most spot-on comment ever made about the UN | Hillel Fuld (brother of Ari Fuld, HY"D): he was invited to hear about the Farhud...and speak about what the world doesn't want us to know. HE & EN with subtitles. H/t: Israel Video Network. | The wake-up process of Jews in Israel despite continued tragedy | Does being anti-Israel mean you're antisemitic? Find the answer HERE. | RAW: The most incriminating video ever made about UNRWA | The history of the Jewish rights to Israel reveals the secret behind the media's bias |

28 August 2024

What are we waiting for? That is the question.

 

 24 Menahem Av 5784 | כ"ד מנחם אב התשפ"ד

 


To see a part of what we're waiting for, watch this.
 

The rest of the Middle East (not to mention the US, who is playing both sides of this ongoing conflict) is saying lately that we are waiting for them to respond to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and all the other evil leaders in the Middle East who have been seeking to annihilate us, wipe us off the face of the earth in the most painful and horrible ways.

Yes, we are waiting; but not for what they think. We are not dhimmis, even if they think we are, even those of us who are descendants of people in dhimmitude.

 Besides that, we failed at least one test before that required us to wait. But we didn't; so, when the golden calf was made, we lost the opportunity to rectify the world, back in the days when we were in the desert; and we see the results today.

The other major test where waiting was required was before there was such a thing as Israelites or Jews. It was in the Garden of Eden when the satan-snake came to Hava haRishona (the First Eve) and suggested that she eat the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, that was forbidden to her. 

Yeah, I know. She should have asked her husband. But you know, he wasn't there at the moment, and usually the snake-oil salesman tries to hurry the sale before he loses the customer, before he (in this case, she) had a chance to get confirmation or feedback otherwise. 

What, you didn't know that the satan-snake was the first snake-oil salesman? 😉

Back to what the modern nation of Israel is waiting for, from north to south. No, we're not in any hurry to submit to you, Iran, or even to the rest of the Middle East, to become dhimmi again. It is not for you we wait.

Only for the king of the Jews.

(Yes, we know that someone else had that title, and that something bad happened to him. But that was because he wasn't the real king.)

As I have heard and expressed in writing before

A family that is living here right now somewhere in this country holds the distant descendant of King David's unbroken male line, who is the heir to his throne. If he passes away, another will arise from that line; that's how we can say that Mashiah has been available, and could have come to Am Yisrael, in every generation. That's who Mashiah is, and his government will be the only truly legitimate one, recognized by all, here.

Many times in the past, the opportunity arose earlier in the process because there was a qualified descendant in every generation, but the people weren't ready to take advantage of it. Now, that doesn't matter because we are at the end, close to the very, very end. In a few years it will be 210 years before the seventh millennium of the world begins. A lot has to happen before the millennium-long sabbatical, just as, when every week draws to a close, we must prepare for Shabbath.

***

The names of the American hostages in Gaza are: Edan Alexander; Itay Chen, HY"D; Sagui Dekel-Chen; Hersh Goldberg-Polin; Gadi Haggai, HY"D; Judith Weinstein Haggai, HY"D; Omer Neutra and Keith Siegel...since neither the American administration nor the American media are willing to SAY THEIR NAMES. Because Jews?! Pictures of these hostages can be found in the linked article as well.

Many thanks to Varda Meyers Epstein for the link immediately above; I didn't know what all their names were. I hope that all the nations represented in any way by the hostages currently in Gaza are reminding people of where they come from, whether alive or dead.

The HY"D after some of these hostages' names stands for May God avenge his/her blood. It means they were murdered, whether during captivity or beforehand, in this case during the 7 October 2023/Simhath Torah 5784 atrocities. 

A note to clarify: Among the Ten Commandments, the sixth one, which is usually translated "Thou shalt not kill" (lo' tirtzáh לא תרצח), specifically refers to murder. Other kinds of killing have different verbs in Hebrew, and are not included in this commandment. It is the same in both versions presented in the Hebrew Bible. See HERE.

May Mashiah (the king of the Jews) come and be revealed today...שמשיח יבוא ויתגלה היום

***

More reading and viewing:

VIDEO: A man from Judea is suing the Biden Administration. Why?  |  The truth about Jewish Gaza (MAJA: Make Aza Jewish Again!)| Shmuel Sackett: How do we feel when Israel's at war? | Tikva Forum - Advocating the Hostages' Return Responsibly ENG | עבר - Lots of videos! (BTW, I made up the slogan based on their approach as I read it) |


READ: Vic Rosenthal: Do we have an ally in America? or something else? | Rivka Levy: The State of HizballamericaHow should Israel act against Hamas after the murder of the [6] hostages? | Why is Israel buying Google's UNRWA searches, and linking them to an information website? | NO state for terrorists | Hamas is executing hostages; "human rights" groups are silent... | Jewish Press: Biden sanctions [cuts off from access to bank and other accounts, etc. - HDG] more Israelis [specifically, JEWS] | Esser Agaroth: Biden continues his excursion into Israel's affairs |

 

11 August 2024

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

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

 

 


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

(Holy Temple = Bet Ha'mikdash)
***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

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

***

More reading/viewing:

Viewing:

23 July 2024

Respect! Why doesn't Israel receive it?

17 Tammuz 5784 | י"ז תמוז ה'תשפ"ד

May we have an easy and productive fast!

***



Click here to watch MK Dan Illouz on X.com speak in English to the international community about a Palestinian state.

I wrote most of this article on 15 Tammuz 5784, 21 July 2024. I believe it will be a day to remember, if the right things are done now.

Lots of people love to blame the current government, wherever they are in the world, for anything that's going wrong. This might be true in most countries, but here in Israel it's not any one particular government. It's the governance system. The same mistakes occur over and over and over, no matter which party or group of parties is in power. 

Someone, or many someones, outside our political system — and outside our country — must have been giving, and still be giving today, the same orders to both sides. 

Hopefully, as of now, we will begin to see a shift in policy regarding the Jewish people's continued return home to Eretz Yisrael.

We need to get our eyes off of whether Labor (recently changed to the Hebrew equivalent of "The Democrats" and merged with Meretz), or Likud, wins.  The whole system is wrong, whether borrowed or imposed from polluted sources, and will never get us anywhere. 

Which implies, if not actually states, that our governments have been selling us, the people of Israel, "down the river" the whole time. 

That would be traitorous, wouldn't it? 

And the results are in. It happened on 19 July:

The declaration on the part of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Judea and Samaria are off limits to the Jews and the State of Israel. (<<< download the PDF from the link)

How did one of the international courts attached to the United Nations suddenly get the message to publicly state, via an advisory opinion, that Judea and Samaria don't belong to the Jews at all?

That's aside from the fact that it's been called "the West Bank" for a long time, and not by its proper and legal name.

Was it pressure from the Arabs, from the United States, from the UN itself? This statement is not binding as law. However, it encourages agencies higher up to try to make it international law.

I say "try to" because there will be repercussions from any attempt to legally take away Jewish land from the Jews; I think that's why Britain, with impunity, unceremoniously lopped off what became Jordan from the Palestinian Mandate, which at that time referred ONLY TO LAND FOR THE JEWS. 

We haven't seen the open wrath of the All Mighty One in our favor in a very long time. Maybe now is the time?

It certainly wasn't from a recent study of the roots of the peoples of the Middle East in the Bible, where the answers are clearer and more proof of its truth shows up practically every day. And it wasn't from international law: See the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Conference of 1920 (download PDF there, if you can). More about the San Remo Conference (search)

Now, to the point...

...is it possible that the governments of Israel, over decades, contributed to the impression that we were so subservient to "international bodies" that they felt they could just come and take away any recognition of Judea and Samaria as part of Israel? How did this signal get to them? 

Just perhaps, by our governments punishing and over-punishing Israel's own Jewish citizens just for living in these areas (this may be the only article to sympathize with Amiram Ben Uliel's plight, brought on by our courts accepting his confession under torture, online as I'm writing, from 2022, for example) more than those who live within the "Green Line," and all the ICJ did was put down the first step for higher courts to formalize?

(And this, just in on 17 Tammuz...our Supreme Court accepted an Palestinian Arab land claim near Hevron, where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are buried along with (most of) the mothers of our people. How can we expect world legal bodies to have the respect our nation deserves when our government and legal "representatives" can't be bothered to set the example? I'm shaking my head over this masochistic behavior!)

Back to the international court...

Apparently...The ICJ cannot define "occupied Palestinian territory" — but it tries very hard. And, the EU deplores Israeli democracy. Especially when we disagree with them on whether or not we should let people live among us who want us dead and do their best to make it so.

And back to our official response...

We see that, finally, on 15 Tammuz 5784, 21 July 2024, that our Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, submitted a declaration rejecting the ICJ's ruling on "occupation." Four days prior, the Knesset voted, and established its position against, a Palestinian state

Good for you! No Israeli leader or influencer, whether politician, jurist, or advisor (much less a blogger), has any mandate to bow, or advocate bowing, to even the most overwhelming international pressure to give away the land most of the Jewish Bible (called the Tana"ch here) refers to!

(We should note here that the responsibilities and decisions of the Knesset have been under attack from other branches of our government for years, especially our judiciary branch. Are we so ignorant of what a real democracy is that we would ignore this issue?)

 ...and how do we show that we mean it?

I hope the rest of the Israeli government listens up. I believe our upper-level leadership has been part of the problem all along. If they don't take heed, they can't be part of our future.

(By "upper level," I'm referring to those who give orders, even having the temerity to dictate to the prime minister or president, providing that these are of sound mind in the first place. Advising the leader of your country is one thing, dictating to him is something else.)

At least since 1969 if memory serves (sorry, no internet then, thus no accessible link from here), radio shows in the United States and other places were still criticizing Jews for walking around and feeling at home in Judea and Samaria two years after the 6-Day War. Our enemies lost, and until now our government has never learned its lessons from that war, or any of the others where we were saved by "deus ex machina" as they might call it. 

Dear readers, you and I know better: God is real, and it is He who really won the war for us in 1967, and many others as well. Even our enemies admitted it then, and get frustrated now when it's obvious to them that God acts in our favor, even when many of us don't follow His ways. But our governments have not only been ungrateful, they actually attributed our victory in 1967, and those afterwards as well, to the greatness of our army!

"Give credit where credit is due" is one of the maxims of common decency, which translates to derekh eretz here.

So, let's not respond to the decrees of the nations, but rely on HQB"H.

I think it is better not to respond to whatever the nations say at all regarding our government's response. Certainly, neither we nor our government should not take out our feelings about their statements on the people of Israel, even if we don't agree on where Israel begins and ends. We have to wonder why, all of a sudden, our government is actually sticking up for the legitimacy of Judea and Samaria due to the direct attack by the ICJ. But the best response is no response at all. We can carry on without letting everyone in the world, including the media, know what we're doing, day to day. Who knows, it might save many of our lives that might otherwise be lost. Loose lips sink ships, after all, as was said during WWII.

 Democracy may (or may not) work in other parts of the world, but definitely not here. 

A family that is living here right now somewhere in this country holds the distant descendant of King David's unbroken male line, who is the heir to his throne. If he passes away, another will arise from that line; that's how we can say that Mashiah has been available, and could have come to Am Yisrael, in every generation. That's who Mashiah is, and his government will be the only truly legitimate one, recognized by all, here.

May we live to see it, with the love and help of God; let us all acknowledge Him.

***

More reading/viewing:

Israeli startup Wiz says NO to Google's $23B offer, will go public | Jerusalem College of Technology launches new options for North American students facing surges of antisemitism | Hague court invites 70 countries to object to Netanyahu, Gallant arrest warrants | Is Hamas ready to accept any deal? | Change Israel's approach to the ICJ | The UN's illegal occupation of Jerusalem | The Israeli defense establishment defies the government [to our detriment - HDG] | Big win for Israel | UNRWA was providing apartments for HAMAS to use and rent out | Did terrorist Hamas become a professional army under UNRWA's nose? | Atty. Jacques Gauthier to Israel: 'Never allow people to tell you you're trespassers' | 24/7/24: 102nd anniversary of the League of Nations' affirmation of Jewish self-determination (see article written in 2016) | Occupied Palestinian territory is reoccupied Jewish territory | The selling of Kamala Harris | What short memories Jews have! The state of French Jewry | EU foreign policy chief: 'Israel's legislation against UNRWA is nonsense' Above bolded articles are part of the evidence we found! | Netanyahu didn't lie on aid to Gaza. The "fact-checkers" did. | Our murdered children |