Duh!? How Can There Be Peace Without Arab Recognition of Israel?

I'm known for prefacing my questions with:

"Sorry, but here's another of my dumb questions:"

IMRA has just publicized a very revealing opinion poll from the United States.  I'm going to copy/paste it here, emphasis mine:

Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Poll of Americans: 77%:7% agreement must require recognition of Israel's right to exist as Jewish state


National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
Conducted September 2-3, 2010 By Rasmussen Reports

1* How closely have you followed recent news stories about Middle Eastern
peace talks?


35% Very closely


42% Somewhat closely


19% Not very closely


2% Not at all


1% Not sure


2* As part of a Middle Eastern peace agreement, should Palestinian leaders
be required to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state?


77% Yes


7% No


16% Not sure


3* As part of a Middle Eastern peace agreement, should Israel be required to accept the creation of a Palestinian state?


51% Yes


27% No


22% Not sure


4* How likely is it that Palestinian leaders will acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state?


6% Very likely


19% Somewhat likely


45% Not very likely


19% Not at all likely


11% Not sure


5* How likely is it that Israel will accept the creation of a Palestinian state?


6% Very likely


36% Somewhat likely


38% Not very likely


9% Not at all likely


10% Not sure


NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence

Now, I may be stupid, or missing something, but what's the point of the talks?  It can't be peace, because, unless I'm really dumb, it would seem common sense that Arab recognition of Israel be a minimal requirement for peace between Israel and the Arabs.  And if these are supposed to be peace talks, not peace or appease talks, what does establishing a Pseudostinian aka Palestinian state have to do with peace?


It seems pretty obvious that the State and citizens of Israel have been conned by a serious case of mislabeling.  This Obama conference is no peace conference.  His aim all along has been to "father" a new Arab state in the heartland of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael the Land of Israel.

We, the Israeli delegation, ought to cut our losses and run far away.  Not only won't this conference end in peace, it's to facilitate the end of the state of Israel.  G-d forbid our politicians continue cooperating with the American and Blair.  History will mock and condemn them as traitorous fools.  Let them do their תשובה teshuva repentance and be true noble patriotic leaders of the Jewish People.

Chag Sameach

Shannah Tovah

Have a Wonderful Year

Another Reason Shiloh is Such A Great Place

Today on our local Shiloh email list there was a message:

"If anyone for any reason can't be in synagogue to hear the shofar blows, please contact me to arrange a time when I can come to your house to blow shofar."

On Purim, there's a choice of homes to hear the Megillat Ester for those like myself who need a quiet reading.

There's a committee, actually a few committees according to neighborhoods, to make sure those who have serious medical problems, or l'havdil (the opposite) just gave birth get meals and other help.

Neighbors also provide food and household help to mourners.  People take charge, so it's pretty organized.

Ancient Shiloh welcomed pilgrims, Jews from all over the Land of Israel.  It was the national and religious capital for 369 years.  A holiness remains.

Shana Tova

Have a wonderful healthy and productive year.

Letting the Inmates Run the Asylum

Today at the pool, I was talking to one of the young mothers who was rather surprised to hear that my childhood education experiences could easily compete with modern nightmares of her generation and that of her children.  Probably most shocking is the fact that I was raised in New York and she took for granted that things are/were better there.

So, davka it's pretty ironic that the New York Times has two very interesting articles about education.  One is about teachers taking over administration of schools and the other is better ways of learning.

When I was teaching in schools I always, ok, almost always felt that there were serious problems with the administration.  My offers to help were rejected.  If only I could run the school....

Well, now I'm a grandmother and I hope that things will be better for my grandchildren.  It's not easy, not at all.  Each kid needs different things at different times.

I put a lot of effort into advocating for my kids when they were students.  As far as I'm concerned that's the job of a parent.  You can't take for granted that the system, the teachers know what's best.  There's no "one size fits all."  Don't be shy, but also don't complain just to complain. 

The Shalit Family Should Move Protest Tent to ICRC

The International Red Cross has been protecting Hamas terrorists aka activists in their offices.  Hamas captured and is holding Gilad Shalit.  So instead of harassing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, as if he's holding their son, Noam and Aviva Shalit should move their operations to the people who are in very intimate contact with their son's captors.

It's no wonder that Gilad is still imprisoned when the campaign to free him is totally misfocused.  I feel sorry for the Shalit family, but that doesn't make their decisions and opinions correct.

Most of all I feel sorry for Gilad Shalit who should have been returned home to Israel alive and well a long time ago.  I consider Gilad to be a victim of Israeli Left wing ideology.

Playing With Fire, Bibi's Dangerous Game

As all of my regular readers know, I'm very upset that ouir Israeli politicians are playing the "negotiation game."  I've blogged about it a lot and recommend that you scroll through the various posts.  We're at the Eve of Rosh Hashannah when G-d decides our fate accourding to our repentence.  Ten days later, on Yom Kippur the decision is sealed, finalized.


One of the most moving prayer we say is the U'Netaneh Tokef.  I'm copying the story of that prayer.  To me it's a lesson to our politicians that they should never negotiate over our Holy Land. 

"U'Netaneh Tokef

Kedushat Hayom"

"Let Us Tell How Utterly Holy This Day Is"


The Background


The prayer entitled "U'Netaneh Tokef" is attributed to a Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, Germany, who lived about one thousand years ago. The story behind this piyut, a prayer-poem, is sad and poignant, and may shed light on the prayer itself.


The Bishop of Mainz summoned Rabbi Amnon, a great Torah scholar, to his court and offered him a ministerial post on the condition that Rabbi Amnon would convert to Christianity. Rabbi Amnon refused. The Bishop insisted and continued to press Rabbi Amnon to accept his offer. Of course, Rabbi Amnon continued to refuse. One day, however, Rabbi Amnon asked the Bishop for three days to consider his offer.


As soon as Rabbi Amnon returned home, he was distraught at the terrible mistake he had made of even appearing to consider the Bishop's offer and the betrayal of G-d. For three days he could not eat or sleep and he prayed to G-d for forgiveness. When the deadline for decision arrived, the Bishop sent messenger after messenger to bring Rabbi Amnon, but he refused to go. Finally, the Bishop had him forcibly brought to him and demanded a response. The Rabbi responded, "I should have my tongue cut out for not having refused immediately." The Bishop angrily had Rabbi Amnon's hands and feet cut off and then sent him home.


A few days later was Rosh HaShanah, and Rabbi Amnon, dying from his wounds, asked to be carried to shul. He wished to say the Kedushah to sanctify G-d's Name and publicly declare his faith in G-d's Kingship.With his dying breath, he uttered the words that we now know of as the U'Netaneh Tokef.


Three days later Rabbi Amnon appeared in a dream to Rabbi Kalonymous ben Meshullam, a scholar and poet, and taught him the exact text of the prayer. Rabbi Amnon asked that it be sent to all Jewry and that it be inserted in the prayers of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur for all time.


The prayer portrays G-d as a Shepherd over His flock, counting and examining each sheep one by one as it passes under His rod. So does He review the flock of humanity one by one, determining each individual's fate for the coming year.


But the individual human being is not just a helpless sheep! Rather, he or she can contribute to their verdict by altering their behavior towards G-d and Man, specifically in the areas of sincere Repentance, Prayer from the heart and Charity given with a cheerful spirit.

U'Netaneh Tokef

כַּמָּה יַעַבְרוּן וְכַמָּה יִבָּרֵאוּן How many will survive and how will get healthier


מִי יִחְיֶה וּמִי יָמוּת How will live and who will die


מִי בְקִצּוֹ וּמִי לֹא בְּקִצּוֹ Who in his dying day and who is not


מִי בַמַּיִם וּמִי בָאֵשׁ Who by water and who by fire


מִי בַחֶרֶב וּמִי בַחַיָּה Who by sword and who by beast


מִי בָרָעָב וּמִי בַצָּמָא Who by hunger and who by thurst


מִי בָרַעַשׁ וּמִי בַמַּגֵּפָה Who by avalanche (perhaps also earthquake) and who by disease


מִי בַחֲנִיקָה וּמִי בַסְּקִילָה Who by strangling and who by stoning


מִי יָנוּחַ וּמִי יָנוּעַ Who will rest and who will move


מִי יִשָּׁקֵט וּמִי יְטֹּרֵף Who will be silenced and who will go mad


מִי יִשָּׁלֵו וּמִי יִתְיַסָּר Who will be peaceful and who will suffer (with agony)
מִי יַעֲנִי וּמִי יַעֲשִׁיר Who will be poor and who will be rich


מִי יֻשְׁפַּל וּמִי יָרוּם who will be insulted and who will be praised

Dumb! Dumb! Dangerously DUMB!!

One thing for sure, Israel isn't being governed by poker players.  We could use some on the team.  When negotiating one is supposed to keep one's cards close to one's chest and not let the world know what you have nor your strategy.





I've been searching for the poker scene in Five Pennies, the Red Nichols biopic starring Danny Kaye. There's a great scene in which his young daughter bluffs him, but I couldn't find it in English. Watch anyhow, since you know the "end" and can figure out what's happening.





There's an art to negotiations, very much like poker. Never give your bottom "red" line, because if you do, the other side will start from there and you'll lose from day one.


And if you plan any tricks, keep them secret. Don't publicize them in the media.  Silence is the key.  Israeli politicians, right, left and center talk much too much about their "dream plans" for "peace."

This is all so obvious to me; I just can't understand what a man of Binyamin Netanyahu's obvious intelligence and knowledge of history is doing.  Honestly, I don't think much of Ehud Barak's intelligence.  I'll never forget when he was Prime Minister and his admirers thought he was so impressive because he liked to take apart machines and put them together.  Well, that's not the sort of intelligence for a good effective Prime Minister or responsible administrator of any large organization.

Israel must demand a long, unlimited "time out" from all negotiations.  Time is our strength.  Let the Arabs come running and begging.  So far only Israel has shown any desperation or even mild interest in peace.  That means that regardless of whatever may be signed with the heavy-handed urging of the United States and Blair the final result will be more Arab terrorism and war.

If it takes another generation or more for the Arabs to want true peace, at least they will want peace.  You can't make peace with people who glorify war.

First Benji's HH and Then To Sleep!

Benji, please forgive me, but  was planning on just checking my emails before going to bed.  My husband and I and a couple of our kids had been out celebrating the lo'azi goyish date 40th anniversary of our docking in Israel as olim chadashim, new immigrants.  Where were we?  At HaGov!!!  Where else?  It's the best, very best kosher sports bar and grill in the world, and it's in Jerusalem 5 Yoel Solomon Street.

I figured I'd just glance at your Havel Havelim and blog about it tomorrow, but then I saw that you gave me places of honor, first and last, if you count the reminder for the Kosher Cooking Carnival.  For details, check out the HH, I'm conking out, dozing in the seat.

As usual, Benji, you did a great job.  Please forgive me, but I just can't stay awake long enough to say any more.

So, all you readers, please check out Benji's Havel Havelim!!

Room For More Than One More

Last night was the chanukat habayit, dedication, festive opening of our expanded neighborhood synagogue and "social/events" hall.  The shul is now officially named the Beit Knesset Noam Yonatan of Ramat Shmuel Shiloh.  It's named in memory of Yonatan Eldar, HaYa"D, who was murdered by an Arab terrorist when studying in Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva.

The hall is dedicated to the memory of Penina Siton, ZaTz"L, who died of cancer a year ago, and the expanded Ezrat Nashim, Women's Section is in memory of Yehudit Shpatz who passed away two years ago.

It's hard to think that money can only be raised when in memory of dead people, but that's the reality. 

At least now there will be room for all to pray here in our neighborhood shul.

Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely Is Making The Same Mistake As The Left

Young Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely seems to be enjoying the attention every one of her utterances now gets from the media.  She has joined the Left by producing "peace plans."  Her latest brainstorm isn't the first.  This time I'm not even going to mention her ideas, proposals, because proclamations to the media, whether logical or fantasy, won't bring us peace with our Arab enemies.

The State of Israel wants peace, is willing to live in peace with all Arabs.  We have said this numerous times, like the stars in the sky, and countless times we've made so many peace gestures, like an anorexic, we have nothing left but bare bones.  Now what's necessary for peace is that the Arabs want peace enough to stop fighting us, to stop attacking us with dangerous missiles, to stop shooting and throwing rocks at innocent Israeli civilians. 

Simply put:

Only when the Arabs want peace as much as we do will there be peace!

Tzipi Hotovely's peace plan has as much a chance to bring peace as the ones the Israeli Leftists promote.

There Are No Coincidences

I shouldn't have been been surprised when I read the email from A.Word.A.Day.

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg


faux


PRONUNCIATION:
(foh)


MEANING:
noun: Artificial; fake; false.


ETYMOLOGY:
From French faux (false), from Old French fals, from Latin falsus (false), past participle of fallere (to deceive).


USAGE:
"During movie production, all faux weapons had to be rubber."
Amy Kaufman; T.I. Reworks His Act for Hollywood; Los Angeles Times; Aug 26, 2010.


Explore "faux" in the Visual Thesaurus.


A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong. -John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1908-2006)

Obama and Hillary are marketing faux peace.  There's a faux peace conference in Washington DC attended by PM Binyamin Netanyahu who is a faux leader, becuase he's not leading; he's taking orders.

Looking Forward to The Three-Day News Moratorium

At last year's Second International Jewish Bloggers Conference (will there be a third?) David Horowitz, Editor in Chief of the Jerusalem Post spoke about the news business.  He said that now that the paper is online, work can't cease for a minute.  The Jerusalem Post only closes for Yom Kippur, but he and his family are keeping more of Shabbat for their own sanity.  They need the break from the unpleasant realities of news.

As the resident hausfrau here in the jblogging capital of Shiloh, I don't really enjoy all the domestic preparations for the upcoming three day (2 days of Rosh Hashannah plus Shabbat) Jewish Holiday weekend, but I do enjoy the subsequent silence of the news, the media, the telephone etc.  Bad news can wait and good news is just as good delayed. 

I like to concentrate on the here and now of the prayers and community.

This is a reminder that the One in Charge is G-d Almighty, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, not Bibi, Obama nor Hillary.  This World, Olam HaZeh,  עולם הזה is fleeting, temporary, just preparation for the Next World, Olam HaBa עולם הבא and determines where G-d will place us.  Our actions buy our tickets.

Next Wednesday, before the sun goes down, we'll turn off and unplug the computer.  I'll light the first set of candles, take out my Machzor (Holiday Prayerbook) and pray to G-d that our Israeli politicians will transform into wise leaders and that G-d will forgive all our sins whether we properly repent or not.  We're only human, not angels.  We're riddled with faults and weaknesses.

Shabbat Shalom

Shannah Tovah
Ketiva Vechatima Tova

Gmar Chatima Tova

Housecleaning, Clean the Traitors Out

Double hat tip, IMRA from MEMRI


Israeli Knesset Member Hanin Zou'bi:
I Do Not Represent the State of Israel but the Palestinian Struggle


In an interview for the website Elaph.com, Israeli Arab Knesset Member Hanin Zou'bi of the Balad party said that she sees herself as a representative not of Israel but rather of the struggle of the Palestinian people, and as such does not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Zou'bi attacked the Palestinian Authority, which she claimed no longer stands for Palestinian rights, and called on the PLO to effect a reform which would grant Israeli Arabs a voice in its leadership.


Following are excerpts from the interview:




Q: "...How can you expect the country in whose parliament you are a member to keep quiet about such activity [i.e. your participation in the Gaza flotilla]? In France, a member of the National Assembly would not dare to act thus against the French state..."


Hanin Zou'bi: "...My situation is different. I do not represent the State of Israel or speak in its name, but rather in the name of the [Palestinian] struggle, which does not in any way recognize Israel as a Jewish state. [I speak] in the name of a struggle that is performing a role precisely opposed to that of the Israeli Knesset, from the [Knesset's] standpoint...

entire article

Hey, Barry Obama, The Only Thing Slipping is Your Approval Ratings!

U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama claims that "peace" is slipping away, but the only thing slipping is his approval ratings.  You can't make real peace at a fancy conference table.

When there's no security, there's no peace.  And there definitely isn't security  for Jews in the Holy Land.  So roll up the fancy table cloth and carpets.  Put away the spotlights and put your tux you had cleaned for another Nobel Peace Prize back in storage.

An agreement can't be imposed.  You have a language problem. 

Forget about a shotgun wedding.  We've been shot at too much to believe your fairy tales.

I hope that Bibi gets some self-respect and the guts to stand up and leave.  Better the Israel delegation never show up.  Instead he should visit the mourners and the wounded.

The Israeli people are strong.  We've been carrying the burden while our politicians fiddle away G-d's gifts to us. 

Hillary, Not "Lost," MURDERED!

In my search for a film-clip of Bibi's disjointed reaction to the terror attack near Hebron, I found the Hillary Clinton part of it.





I find her PC euphemisms offensive.  Yitzchak Imas, his wife Talia Imas, Kokhava Even-Chaim, and Avishai Shindler, HaYa"D, were all murdered by Arab terrorists.  Everyone knows where they are.  They are buried in clearly marked graves. 

They aren't "lost."


The only person who can be considered "lost" is Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who thought that he was going to be a "partner" in a "peace" conference, but instead he seems rather stupefied and led around like a beaten dog.





The Arabs at Obama's "conference" can't control the terrorists.  That's clear.  So, if they can't control them, there won't be peace of any shape or form.  The Israeli security situation can only get worse.  This Obama conference only emboldens the Arab terrorists.

I'm a pragmatist.  I follow the news.  Over the decades each "peace" conference and concession by Israel has only made life more dangerous for us, pushed peace further away.  Yes, this is the Middle-east where nothing makes sense.  Appease aka "peace" sic Now causes war and terrorism.

Be prepared!

Bibi, Lobotomized?

If anyone has a youtube of the interview/statement, please send the link, thanks.

This evening I saw a PM Binyamin Netanyahu unlike his usual self.  I don't like Bibi's policies, but I do think him one of the most talented speakers alive.  He was in Washington DC standing next to a very angry looking Hilary Clinton.  Instead of Netanyahu's usually well-crafted sentences and complete thoughts, he grunted a few phrases which were supposed to elucidate his feelings about last night's Arab terror attack which resulted in the murder of four innocent Jews from Beit Chagai.

Just PM Netanyahu's being there means that the pressure on him will just get worse and worse.  He won't be in control.

Look at this face.  He's miserable.

The big problem is that he's supposed to be representing us, the citizens of the State of Israel, and the only way to succeed is to "pull and Samson" and break up the conference.  Obama's conference won't bring peace.

At least it's now being said that Bibi announced to Hillary that the building freeze will soon be over.

The Entrenched Schizophrenia in The Israeli Calendar

On the whole, the State of Israel functions according to the Jewish Calendar.  Official state holidays and school vacations are all in accordance with Jewish Law and Calendar.  The biggest national clash is the opening of the school year.  That's today, September 1.  Most years that's fine for all the schools, state-religious (mamlachti-dati) and state-secular (mamlachti.)  The traditional time for the opening of yeshivot, religious Torah seminaries, is the first of the Jewish Month of Elul, the month before Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year.

According to Jewish Law, our New Year is an extremely important spiritual time, an interactive spiritual time when we are supposed to make an accounting of our lives, deeds etc of the past year and beseech G-d to forgive our sins so we can begin the new year clean and pure.  That's not something done vacationing, shopping and goofing off.  So many schools and school districts must make a crucial decision, one permitted by Israeli Law.  Should school open before the first of September or not?

The schools which only open today have less than a week of school before the Rosh Hashannah vacation/Holiday begins.  That isn't enough time.

That's why many schools began earlier causing problems within families, neighborhoods etc.  Our local school district, the Benjamin Regional Council had school open this past Sunday, August 29, so there would be just over a full week of school before Rosh Hashannah.  The days will be made up as added (bridge) vacations during the year.

It may sound complicated, but it's far better than trying to live a full Torah Judaism life out of Israel.  One of our young relatives went to an American university which had been specifically targeting itself as suitable for Orthodox Jews.  She managed pretty well, except that her graduation was davka on the Jewish Holiday of Shavuot.  So, with all the faults and difficulties in Israel, there are far more advantages.

Shanah Tovah, Gmar Chatima Tovah

4 Innocent Jews Murdered by Arab Terrorists, Just Like When Rachella Druk Was Murdered

My neighbor, Rachella Druk, mother of seven, was murdered on the eve of the Madrid Conference on her way to a demonstration to strengthen then Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir.  The bus was shot at by Arab terrorists murdering Rachella, the driver, Yitzchak Rofeh and wounding a number of children.  Shamir should have packed his bags and returned home explaining:

אין עם מי לדבר  Ain im mi lidaber.  There's nobody to talk to.  

That means that the talks are pointless.  If the Arabs wanted peace they wouldn't be murdering Jews.

Here we are again, deja vu.  Four Jews were just murdered by Arab terrorists while Israel's present Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is preparing to negotiate with the same Arabs.


Bibi, please come home!!

אין עם מי לדבר  Ain im mi lidaber.  There's nobody to talk to. 

That means that the talks are pointless.  If the Arabs wanted peace they wouldn't be murdering Jews.

Tuvia Thanks His Rescuer

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Tuvia Grossman Meets The Soldier Who Saved His Life

From: HonestReportingVideo

In 2000, the media published a photo of Tuvia Grossman, a Jewish student from Chicago -- bloodied and battered -- crouching beneath a club-wielding Israeli policeman. The caption identified him as a Palestinian victim of Israeli brutality -- with the clear implication that the Israeli soldier was the one who beat him. In fact, the policeman saved his life.

Now, ten years on, HonestReporting has reunited Tuvia and his rescuer for the first time since those terrible events. Watch the video to witness their dramatic reunion.

Insane, Dangerously Insane

As I wrote earlier, Abbas is not planning on negotiating peace, real or fake.  His agenda is banishing us Jews from our homeland.  The world is supporting a Pseudostinian aka palestinian sic state.  They have it all prepared and what's good for us doesn't count.

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will spin and spin to decive us.  Spinning?  Isn't that what Rabin told us to do, "spin like propellers" if we didn't like his poorly thought out Oslo Plan?

We only have one Land, and I don't know how many mistakes G-d will allow us.

Rosh Chodesh Tishrei is Rosh Hashannah, So...

Yes, in just a few days we'll be entering the next year according to the Jewish Calendar. 

When the night sky just shows stars and barely a sliver of moon, it'll herald the beginning of the next year, Rosh Hashannah, not Rosh Chodesh Tishrei.

For that reason, I'm not calling for women's prayers at Tel Shiloh.

Instead I recommend that you plan on coming to Tel Shiloh for the Succot festivities which will be that Monday and Tuesday. 

I'll post more information when I have it.

Abbas Isn't Negotiating for Peace

The "PA" whatever you want to call him,  Mahmoud Abbas, was just on the IBA and said very clearly that he's going to U.S. President Obama in Washington DC to "negotiate the end of the occupation."  Peace isn't on the menu.

Read his lips.

Abbas, in a televised speech on Sunday night, expressed hope that the Palestinians would find a partner in Israel “that would be capable of making major and responsible decisions to end the occupation and ensure real security for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

...

Abbas noted that the Quartet statement had “stressed the need to end the occupation that began in 1967, including that of east Jerusalem.” (complete article)

Bible Learning/Study

Two years ago I treated myself to a fantastic course at Matan.  It was a Bible study and touring course.  Each month there would be two shiurim (classes) about one of the prophets and his time and a tour of the places he lived and prophesied in.  Last year, because my very elderly father was living with us, I couldn't sign up for any course, since leaving home was complicated.  He couldn't be left alone.

This year I've promised myself that, besides finding and working at some sort of part-time job, I'll again study at Matan.  Now I've been going to their Elul Program and plan on dedicating one morning a week to classes, but in addition, I want to sign up for their interactive internet Bible study course called "Al haPerek."  It's totally new and will be bilingual, the same material and questions in both Hebrew and English.  It's designed as a home study program for those who can't get out, live far from Jerusalem, even abroad and can study "alone."  But it's also suitable for small chevruta (partner) studying or in small or even large groups.

Yesterday after my Elul classes in Matan I spoke to founder Malke Bina about how Matan is taking advantage of the internet to make it easier for women to study.  That's how this new Al haPerek course was conceived.  So, I have this idea, and maybe some of you wherever you are want to do it with me.  We can be email/phone/f2f study partners.  If you register for the course and want to study with me like that please let me know and indicate it when registering.

I find this very exciting!

The "PC" Havel Havelim

Izgad, this week's Havel Havelim host introduces the edition by saying that he didn't include posts he found too extreme, whether right or left.  Considering that Havel Havelim is written by very involved and opinionated Jews, I really wondered if he'd find many sufficiently bland, or PC, posts.  And I was also in suspense over whether he'd include anything of mine.  Unless I just didn't notice, there's only one of mine.  No big deal.


As one of the veteran jbloggers and Havel Havelim hosts and readers, I must admit that I enjoy seeing all those "simple tirades from either the left or right"  all crowded together in one family-like format.  That's what makes HH such a success.

But of course, I recommend taking a look, visiting the posts etc.  We're all family, nu?

"Hachnasat Orchim," Welcoming Guests

Considering the beautiful story on the Arutz 7 site, it's time to tell you my story for the Playback improv group. 


Arutz 7 wrote about the results of a car accident just north of Jerusalem Friday afternoon.  It held up traffic so seriously that many people didn't make it to their destinations before Shabbat.  They had to abandon their cars and hike a few miles to the nearest Jewish community, which was Adam.  Some, who were probably on their way to Psagot and Kochav Yaakov (much further) walked all the way there.  In Adam, residents quickly mobilized to arrange beds and Shabbat meals for their unexpected guests, and the security forces contacted the security forces in all the communities people didn't arrive in to let everyone know that their family and/or guests were perfectly safe and fine.


The story I told for playback was from our very first months in Shiloh.  It happened during Succot, either Shabbat or a Holiday Eve when we were eating the festive meal in our succah.  My in-laws were visiting.  They came to meet their new infant grandson and see our new home.  We had just moved to Shiloh about a month earlier.  To put it mildly, they weren't very impressed by the rough, unfinished (even primitive) living conditions.  Electricity was from an unreliable generator, water was trucked in, streets were recently bull-dozed and still unpaved.


There were no nearby Jewish communities, and the Arab villages were extremely small and even less modernized than Shiloh.  None of this bothered us.


In the middle of the meal, people approached the succah.  It was a neighbor with some strangers, yes, real strangers.  The strangers were Swiss tourist hikers who wanted to see Shiloh.  They had taken an Arab bus which let them off in some village and then judged from their maps and compass that Shiloh must be where there was a bit of light.  They trudged through to dry wilderness and up the mountain until they arrived at my neighbors' succah.  They had trouble communicating in their school English, learned in Switzerland and Israel, so the neighbors decided that we would certainly understand each other much better.  In they came to the succah, and we invited them to eat and camp out.


My in-laws found it horrifying, but for us it was just another lesson on life in a yishuv.

The Voice Of The Shofar

Here are some pre-Rosh Hashanah thoughts based on the "shiur nashim," Women's Torah Class this Shabbat afternoon.  It was given by a young, talented neighbor.  It's not the first time she gave us a talk, and I hope she will be willing to come again.

We were asked what the specific mitzvah for Rosh Hashannah is.  It's listening to the shofar, not blowing the shofar.  That contrasts to Purim's kri'at megilah, reading the Megillat Ester.

What does the kol shofar, sound of the shofar do to us?

One of the regular participants in our classes is a music teacher, and she said that in music therapy each instrument is considered as being able to influence, affect a certain specific part of the body.  If that's the case, and I have no doubt that she's correct, then it must be that the sound of the shofar affects our soul, our spiritual side.

Let your body absorb the voice of the shofar on Rosh Hashannah.  Take it slowly....

Gmar Chatima Tovah

Gilad Shalit's Family, Barking Up The Wrong Tree

This morning the radio was on at the Shiloh Swimming Pool.  Every little while I could hear the announcement by Aviva Shalit, Gilad's mother, reminding us that tomorrow will be Gilad's fifth birthday in captivity.  She then invites us all to protest after Shabbat.  So far, so good, but then she announces that the protest's slogan is that Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu must free Gilad.

Duh!?!  Did I miss something here?  Is Bibi Netanyahu holding Gilad prisoner?  No, well, if that's the case how does she expect the Prime Minister to free her son?

Bibi wasn't even Prime Minister when Gilad Shalit was captured.  There's something very fokokt in the Shalit family's tactics and logic.

Didn't Hamas kidnap Gilad Shalit?  Yes, it did.  So the focus of the demonstrations must be on the agencies, organizations, countries etc that represent Hamas.  There should be a constant vigil against the International Red Cross, European Union and the United Nations for their laxity and hypocrisy in not demanding to visit and assist Gilad Shalit in returning home.

It's obvious that the Shalit family is mixing their own anti-Likud politics in with their personal pain.  They are wasting precious time by fudging the issues here.  They should be working with the government to pressure those who support Hamas to return Gilad home.

For the Future

"... for the Future" is a phrase repeated by Jeff Bridges  a number of times in one of my favorite movies, Seabiscuit.

For the future of the Jewish People we need communities like Shiloh to grow and prosper.

Developing Shiloh is the antidote for the punishment of exile. 

Living Torah lives in New York, California, London, Paris or any other חוץ לארץ chutz l'aretz, out of the Holyland location is certainly better than assimilation into non-Jewish society, but it's not the ideal Jewish Life.  It's a reflection or like a "dress rehearsal" for the life to be lived here in the Land G-d has shown us.

We Jews have our own Land; we don't have to be guests in a different one.  Remember how welcomed Jacob and his family, our forefathers, the twelve tribes were by Pharaoh in Egypt.  The result was that we became slaves to pharaoh in Egypt.

Come home!

Shabbat Shalom uMevorach

Have a peaceful and blessed Sabbath

The New Improved Israel Museum

G-d forbid you should think that I only kvetch and complain about things here.  Last week I managed to go twice to the newly expanded, renovated and refurbished Israel Museum.  Years Decades ago I was a very frequent, regular visitor to the museum.  We even had membership.  My daughters feel like they were raised there.  The two elder ones went to arts & crafts classes in the Israel Museum.  I knew every exhibit, the whole layout of the place.  I was young and all the distances and levels didn't bother me.

Well, the museum and I have aged.  I haven't had any face-lifts, botox or even dyed my hair, but the Israel Museum has been totally rejuvenated.  It's a new museum, bionic, maybe....

Last week there were thousands and thousands of visitors each day, many escaping the heat, but the museum is large enough to handle even more!

The second day I was there it was with family from abroad and a couple of my grandchildren.  They were entranced by the Judaica and Archeology.  The kids even liked the snacks bought in the snack-bar.  They got a kick out of watching the workers still painting and fixing things in the museum.  We didn't have enough time to let them join the workshops.  If we had given them the chance it would have had been harder to get them to leave.

And, no, I'm not tempted to get a face-lift.  It's fine for the Israel Museum but not for me.

Hitler May Have Lost the War, But His Judenrein Policy Lives On

Dry Bones has a brilliant, as usual, post about Hitler and Nazism.  The cartoon is minor in this one.  So read the entire post, please.

It's so totally outrageous and immoral that people all over the world, including Israel, have no problems with the demand that parts of the world including the Jewish National Homeland, the Biblical Land of Israel, be judenrein, cleansed of Jews.  That's racist.  That's immoral.  And that's part of the Nazi ideology.  Connect the dots.

Obama's Administration versus Z-Street

Hat tip AFSI

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 25, 2010
CONTACT: contact@zstreet.org
610.664.1184
610.664.1186

IRS SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION

AGAINST ORGANIZATIONS

THAT DON’T SHARE

ADMINISTRATION’S POSITIONS ON ISRAEL

Z STREET, a pro-Israel non-profit corporation, filed a lawsuit in federal court today charging that the IRS violated the organization’s First Amendment rights. The suit was filed after Z STREET was told by an IRS official that its application for tax-exempt status has been delayed because an IRS policy requires consideration of whether a group’s views on Israel differ from those of the current Administration.


“Not only is it patently un-American but it is also a clear violation of the First Amendment for a government agency to penalize an organization because of its political position on Israel or anything else,” said Z STREET president Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a former First Amendment lawyer. “This situation is the same as if the government denied a driver’s license to people because they were Republicans or Democrats. It goes against everything for which our country stands.”


Z STREET filed for tax-exempt status in January of this year and, despite having met all of the requirements for grant of this status, the application has been stalled. An IRS agent told Z STREET’s lawyers that the application was delayed because of a Special Israel Policy that requires more intense scrutiny of organizations which have to do with Israel, in part to determine whether they espouse positions on Israel contrary to those of the current Administration.


Z STREET is a Zionist organization that proudly supports Israel’s right to refuse to negotiate with, make concessions to, or appease terrorists. Z STREET’s positions on Israel and, in particular, on the Middle East “peace process” differ significantly from those espoused by the Obama administration.


If Z STREET had tax-exempt status, its donors would be able to deduct contributions from their taxable income. The IRS's refusal to grant tax-exempt status to Z STREET has inhibited the organization‘s fundraising efforts, and therefore impeded its ability to speak and to educate the public regarding the issues that are the focus and purpose of Z STREET.


The lawsuit, Z STREET v. Shulman, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, was filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Evangelical crusader map conquers the Jewish world

Posted by Jewish Israel

The Christian evangelizing Jewish Voice Ministries (JVM),directed by Jonathan Bernis, has just unveiled a global crusader map with a spiritual strike capability that appears to rival any physical threat Iran can muster-up (and JVM has already struck a significant number of Jewish souls).

It’s a bit mind-blowing when you view the far-reaching missionary influence of just one evangelical organization, and the map will give you an inkling of the magnitude of the messianic invasion here in Israel.

Take a good look and absorb this very graphic depiction of what some evangelicals perceive and promote as part of “God’s plans for the Jewish people”. And if your eyes are still exclusively set on a physical threat from Persia, then Queen Esther has something to tell you...more

Let's Stop While We're Ahead

No matter how hard the media and politicians keep pushing the "negotiate with our Arab enemies" line, most Israelis do admit that it won't work.  This isn't like trying fly to the moon with paper wings, just foolish unless you count on the wings holding you up when you jump off a cliff.  If that's the case, it's suicidal.

Actually, the chances of real peace and security for Israel to be the results of a negotiated "peace treaty" with the likes of Abbas and his terrorist buddies really do compare with a safe and successful flight to the moon flapping paper wings.  Are you a believer?

I'll never forget how around twenty plus years ago I begged our school to stop teaching Hebrew reading and writing with the "Bli Sodot" method.  Not only did it remind me of the terrible method which had been used to teach English reading and writing to my eldest when we were in England, but it required very skilled fine motor coordination beyond the level of some kids.  When seeing frustrated and miserable little kids who couldn't cut the tiny words and sounds, I called it:

"No cuttee, no readee."

The school principal replied:

"But we just invested so much money in the videos."

Well, after many parents complained about having to invest in  assessments and tutoring, they finally went back to a more traditional and successful phonics method.

As hard as it may seen today to call these negotiations all off, it'll be harder tomorrow.  There's no light at the end of this tunnel.  One just must drill up and climb out.  They say that if you discover you're walking in a mind field go back exactly the way you came.  So, whichever method they choose, it's fine with me.  Just escape!

These negotiations won't bring peace! 

AFSI Fall Mission

1751 Second Ave, New York, NY 10128
Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717; afsi@rcn.com; http://www.afsi.org/
Contact: Helen Freedman, Executive Director
August 20, 2010

YOUR INVITATION TO JOIN AMERICANS FOR A SAFE ISRAEL FOR SHABBAT CHAYE SARAH IN HEBRON -AND ANOTHER UNIQUE CHIZUK (SUPPORT) MISSION TO ISRAEL


ITINERARY FOR AFSI CHIZUK MISSION – Oct. 24 – Nov. 2, 2010


SUNDAY, OCT. 24 – Leave from Newark, NJ on 2:15 El Al flight


MONDAY, OCT. 25 – Arrive at Ben Gurion, 7 A.M – Meet our bus and driver, Ami, and give him our luggage. Those who wish to travel by bus to Ashkelon will travel with him. The rest will board the train in the airport to Ashkelon. There we will meet the bus and Ami, and drive directly to Nitzan, the caravan community of the Gush Katif expellees. The Orange Gallery will be open for shopping and Dror Vanunu, Rachel and Moshe Saperstein, and Anita Tucker will meet us and guide us on our tours of the new building for the Gush Katif communities. We will stay overnight in Ashkelon at the Holiday Inn where Israel Danziger of Mishmeret Yesha will join us.


TUESDAY, OCT. 26 – We’ll pay an early morning visit to Sderot where we’ll meet with Alon Davidi, of Ofek Chadash, Noam Bedein at the media center, and Josh Hasten and Rabbi Fendel at the Hesder Yeshiva. We’ll drive south to Nir Oz, Yevul, and the Haluzia desert where Gush Katif expellees are building new homes. Continue south to Mitzpe Ramon. Overnight at the Inn.


WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27 – Guided morning hike for those who wish to participate, through the Machtesh Ramon, Israel’s Grand Canyon. Visit IDF school, B’ad Achad. Meet with Aharon Pulver and spokesmen at their new Shomrim outpost to review the Bedouin issues. Overnight again at the Inn.


THURSDAY, OCT. 28 – We begin traveling north. Visit Sde Boker, Ben Gurion’s home in the Negev, and go on to Revivim, Yattir, and Sussya. Visit with Rabbi Moshe Hager Lau at his pre-military school, Beit Yatir. Overnight in the area.


FRIDAY, OCT. 29 – Visit the communities in the southern Hebron hills including , Adurayim, Nachliel,and Givat Gal. In Negohot, we hope to visit the Ben David family at Beit Hakerem Hill where their vineyard was destroyed recently by Arab arsonists. Arrive in Kiryat Arba – Yeshivat Nir for overnight and Shabbat Chaye Sarah. Beautiful services at the Maarat HaMachpelah or at the Yeshiva. Dinner at the Yeshiva with Rav Waldman and the Hesder Yeshiva students. Meetings after dinner with Honenu Legal Defense Forum representatives to learn about their efforts on behalf of Haim Pearlman and other Jews under Israeli arrest. Overnight at Yeshiva.


SATURDAY, OCT. 30 – SHABBAT CHAYE SARAH IN HEBRON – Morning services at the Ma’arat HaMachpela. Shabbat lunch at the Gutnick Center with Yossi Baumol and the Hebron Fund group. Afternoon tour of Hebron. Shalosh Seudot and Havdalah at the Yeshiva. Depart from Hebron after Shabbat for Jerusalem. Overnight at the King Solomon hotel.


SUNDAY, OCT. 31 – All day in Jerusalem – Visit the Temple Mount in the early morning with Rabbi Richman. Meet Arieh King back at our hotel for his unique tour of Jerusalem’s threatened areas. Mid- afternoon tour with Dan Luria of Ateret Cohanim in the Old City and Beit Yonatan, Kidmat Zion, and other areas outside the Old City. Evening meetings with Members of Knesset. Overnight at the King Solomon.


MONDAY, NOV. 1 – Leave for the Shomron where we will meet David Ha’Ivri who will guide us through a number of the critical Shomron communities. We’ll of course check on the status of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Yitzhar. We will have our farewell dinner in Petach Tikva. Departure at 9 PM for the airport for midnight and 1 AM flights back to NY. Those who are staying on will be taken back to Jerusalem.


TUESDAY, NOV. 2 – Early morning arrival in NY – in time to vote!


The cost of the land portion of the trip is $1650 per person double occupancy. Single occupancy is $2000. Flight arrangements are up to the individual participants.


Deposits of $800 are due by September 1 with full payment due by October 4.


Payments can be made by: check, made out to Americans For a Safe Israel, and mailed to 1751 Second Ave., New York, NY 10128; Pay Pal through the AFSI website: http://www.afsi.org/ ; Credit Card – call Helen at 212-828-2424.

That's me speaking at the AFSI Gush Katif Katif event in NY, July, 2010