There's a war going on, and did you read this week's Haftara?

It may have had been quiet this Shabbat here in Shiloh, but there definitely is a war going on, and like in 1973, we're not prepared. And unlike 1973, this time it's the civilian centers, meaning cities which are being attacked. Look at the map I took from the Jerusalem Post article I linked to in the first sentence.

The TV news is reporting definite incompetence by the military, which is a reflection on the political leadership which has been endangering us for decades.

Now the big question is whether your ordinary Israeli citizen is brave enough to admit that there must be a real change.

It's not easy for anybody to admit that they've been wrong. Will the media and politicians admit it and take responsibility?

About the Haftara, that's the verses from the Prophets which is read each week. We have Parshat Shavua, the weekly Torah Portion and also the Prophets. I discussed the "parsha" in me-ander, Pinchas. It's the continuation of the end of Balak, when G-d tells Moses that he had better get his leadership moving to stop the immoral acts between the Jewish People and the whoring women of Midian. If you read it, you can just picture, everyone standing around waiting for someone else to do it.

Then, Pinchas to the rescue! He killed the leader of the Shimon (Simon) tribe and the woman, too. The epidemic finally ended after 24,000 died.

Now for the Haftara, which is actually Mattot, next week's, since we've begun the "three weeks" of mourning for our Temple and the Destruction of Jerusalem. Each Shabbat has a specific Haftara.

From Jeremiah:
1:13 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying: 'What seest thou?' And I said: 'I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is from the north.'

1:14 Then the Lord said unto me: 'Out of the north the evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

1:15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

1:16 And I will utter My judgments against them touching all their wickedness; in that they have forsaken me, and have offered unto other gods, and worshipped the work of their own hands.

1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee; be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them.

1:18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

1:19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.'


Shavua Tov and
Refuah Shleimah to all the injured