Terrorism, The Arab Reponse to Israel's Call for Peace

Please find the time, either before or after Yom Kippur to read Caroline Glick's Israel's twenty year nightmare.  It's an important article, full of truth.

Twenty years ago today, Israel's so-called peace process with the PLO was officially ushered in at the White House Rose Garden. 

A year or so later, when the death toll of Israeli victims of the massive terror offensive that the PLO organized shortly afterwards reached what then seemed unbearable heights, a popular call went out to "Put the Oslo Criminals on Trial." 

Needless to say, with Shimon Peres, the architect and godfather of the so-called peace process now serving as the President of Israel, nothing ever came of the call.

The demand for an accounting was not unprecedented. There was no reason, on the face of things for those who made it to be perceived as anything other than reasonably enraged, and responsible citizens insisting that those responsible for the largest, most destructive strategic error Israel has ever made pay a personal price for their actions. 

Twenty years before that ceremony at the White House, Israel suffered the worst military defeat in its history...

Yom Kippur is a very important day in the Jewish Calendar.  Jewish tradition is to reflect and repent in honor of the New Year.  Usually we feast on holidays, but not on Yom Kippur.  On Yom Kippur the body takes a backseat to the soul.  The fact that the Arabs attacked us, davka, on Yom Kippur and expected us to fold, rather than rally and fight just shows how they don't understand our nature, our mentality.

Too many of our politicians, "thinkers," media etc., then, like now, kept harping on the quest for peace, peace at any price.

I remember too well a discussion I had with another young mother in the late 1970's, before then Prime Minister Menachem Begin's surprise announcement that he'd be giving Egypt's Sadat the Sinai.  The other mother was trying to convince me that it would be good to give away the Sinai.  Her sole reason was:

"Do you know how far away it is when my husband has to do milu'im, reserve duty?  Why should he have to travel so far?"
I was incredulous.  "Do you want the war closer?"

Unlike me, who had been born and raised abroad, this young mother was Israeli raised.  She didn't even attempt to convince me that giving the Arabs the Sinai would give Israel peace.  All she wanted was to keep her husband closer to home.  At that point, I had no idea that I was predicting terrorism as the result of a Sinai withdrawal, no matter what the reason for the withdrawal.

Terrorism is a "convenient" war; it's close to home.  For the Israeli who doesn't want the hassle of schlepping his army equipment, and bag of books for reading in his spare time as my husband always did, by shrinking Israel we can bring the battles to your home.

As Caroline Glick writes, none of these "peace agreements" have brought us true peace.  We were conned.  And the really awful fact is that we were conned by our own people, by Israelis, by Jews.  None of these peace sic agreements gave us peace.  Our security is more perilous than ever.  We gave peace a chance and got terrorism.

 

Gmar Chatimah Tovah

May G-d Give us Life and a Another Chance

 

 

Cantor Eliezer Schulman's voice is the one I hear in my head when I think of chazanut.  I discovered Torah Judaism in the Great Neck Synagogue of Cantor Schulman and Rabbi Efraim Wolf.

Cantor Schulman began his career at age 17 as the cantor in the Russian Shul in Newark, New Jersey. He served in the United States army for 4 years overseas earning a purple heart , bronze star and several ribbons for good conduct. After his discharge, he married and moved to become the cantor in the Ave. N Jewish Center in Brooklyn. A decade later he became the cantor in the Great Neck Synagogue in Great Neck, NY. He remained in that position for 40 years. Cantor Schulman passed away right before Pesach in 2005. He left a legacy of Jewish songs, cantorial music and inspiration to all who heard him