Mazal Tov! "Marrano" Wedding on Temple Mount

מזל טוב Mazal Tov,  Congratulations and Best Wishes to the young couple who defied the antisemitic ban on Jewish Prayers and ceremonies on our holiest site in the entire world, Har HaBayit, The Temple Mount.

WATCH: SECRET JEWISH WEDDING ON TEMPLE MOUNT IN DEFIANCE OF LAW
Tom Nisani, chair of the group Students for the Temple Mount and activities director for Israeli right-wing NGO Im Tirzu, wed fellow Temple Mount enthusiast Sara Lu on Thursday in a hidden, rushed ceremony.

Davka, unfortunately, it's here in the Holy Land and the State of Israel where Jews are so terribly and unfairly restricted.

My very best wishes to the young couple, Tom Nisani and Sara Lu. May they merit great things, many blessings and good health.

Gd willing these antisemitc laws will be quickly taken off the books, and Jews will have full religious and civil rights in our holiest of sites, all the Land of Israel and the entire world.

Olmert, Served Enough or Long Way to Go?

Ehud Olmert is/was among Israel's most charming politicians. Not only did Olmert do all the usual public acts that an intelligent and ambitious politician does, but he'd find time to visit people in the hospital and not with a camera crew in tow. He'd also speak with sincere interest to much lower-ranking workers remembering what they had said previously. When the laws changed and he had to choose between being an MK or Mayor of Jerusalem, he chose Jerusalem. And then he had personal letters sent to every single worker in the Knesset, including the cleaning crew.

That's a reason why his corruption charges and guilty verdict was so tragic. Olmert had the capability to be one of Israel's greatest leaders, but then it was discovered that the other side of him, not only the extreme Leftist ideology which surprised/shocked/horrified many, but the fact that apparently he's one of the most corrupt politicians in the History of the State of Israel.

I'm not the only one to consider his "punishment" much too short. What's twenty-seven 27 months when those awful projects he approved will last for decades if not longer? And then he davka got early release which reduces his prison time to only sixteen 16 months.

In prison, Olmert was in a "luxury wing" with other high-ranking white collar prisoners. Considering his charm, he should have been in isolation. That would have been a real punishment for Ehud Olmert!

So, now the Israeli media is discussing whether he's paid his debt to society, as the saying goes, or not. I don't think he did, since he hasn't admitted guilt nor shown suitable remorse at all. Isn't that why they're keeping Katzav in jail?

Jerusalem Post-Ehud Olmert

Never Too Late to Learn Bible, Tanach

I've been enjoying the past few years, since I've had my Wednesdays free to attend classes in Matan and study Bible, Tanach. Having come from a regular American public school education, I knew very little Bible, Tanach.  I did attend an after school Hebrew School in our local synagogue, Oakland Jewish Center, Bayside, NY,  for five years, but there wasn't much we could really learn six hours a week. And I don't remember all that much. We certainly didn't learn the Bible as a text the way I enjoy as an adult.

There was a period of time when here in Shiloh we had classes one morning a week in Bible, Tanach and other related subjects. I attended and enjoyed them greatly. It was my first serious taste of Bible, Tanach on an adult level. The studies were in Hebrew taught by a variety of local teachers, especially Rabbi Nissan Ben-Avraham, who ended up teaching most classes before the program closed.

During that time, for a number of years there were weekly classes, first in Eli and towards the end in Shiloh for women in English. The program had begun during some difficult period, maybe Oslo, when various Jewish communities throughout the world adopted communities in YESHA. Eli was adopted by Har Nof, and their rabbi, Rabbi Shalom Gold, his wife Baila and neighbor Rabbi David Stahl came to Eli weekly to teach men and women.

Here I am with Rabbanit Malke Bina, founder of Matan.

By the time I finished teaching EFL English in the yeshiva high school in Beit El, I needed to find something to stimulate my mind and soul. A number of people recommended Matan. The first course I took there was a Study-Tour program based on the Prophets. In some ways I enjoyed it greatly, but the truth is that it was very frustrating. That's because my basic Bible knowledge was horrendously poor. I knew absolutely nothing about the Biblical Prophets and Kings, so the lectures were beyond me.

One of the lecturers was Dr. Yael Ziegler, and two years later I returned to Matan to take her course, which had begun a few years before. We just finished all of the Book of Kings. The division into two books, isn't a Jewish tradition. And last week we had a celebratory Siyum for the final chapter in Kings.

I was one of the speakers, and this is what I said:

Yael, even after seven years of "every Wednesday" classes here in Matan, I'm definitely not the most veteran of the group, but I'm pretty sure that what I'm going to say is what all of us feel, whether more or less veteran than myself. 

Apologies to Ruth, Great-Grandmother of King David:

Where you teach, we will follow… 

What you teach we will study… 

Your Bible is Our Bible

Your choice of Book is ours, too.

Ad me'ah v'esrim, blessings and good health to you, your family and all of us in here Matan. Thank you

I am not the oldest of the class for sure, and this class fills the auditorium. We are of all ages and backgrounds. Some of us have a Jewish education even weaker than my own, while others had been teachers in Jewish Schools, even Tanach teachers. There are members of the class who have been studying with Yael ever since she began in Matan. And every year more women join us. 

We all value the opportunity to enrich our knowledge of the Bible and stimulate our minds. I wish to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in Matan, from its very beginnings to now and the future. For so many of us, Wednesday, or whatever days we have classes is the best and most important day/s of the week. 

Gd willing may we enjoy many more years learning together.

Prayer at Kotel, Not Very PC

This was first posted on Israel Blogger

It’s no secret that my views and opinions are far from “politically correct.” And I am 1,000% certain that some people will be awfully angry at what I’m writing. We all know that the secular Left dominates the international media, the Jewish media, the Israeli media etc. If it wasn’t for today’s modern internet and the ability for us bloggers to develop our own independent media, things would be a lot worse.

Of course, people like myself don’t have the readership of the New York Times or the Jerusalem Post, but I’m periodically greeted with:

“Are you really Shiloh Musings?”

Yes, there are people who read blogs.

Now, for the past few years, ever since that group of non-Torah observant women began disturbing the peace and tranquility at the Kotel for their monthly media-fests, I haven’t read what I replied to someone last night. I had gotten a letter from someone who asked for my reaction to the usual anti-establishment accusations that the Israeli Rabbinate is alienating American Jews. This is what I wrote:

“Sorry, but the media and the politicians have it all wrong. There’s a place, the Kotel, which functions as an outdoor synagogue. People come from all over the world, all religions and respect the way it functions. That is except for two hours a month, when a bunch of women garbed in male religious accessories, show up with lots of photographers, and cause a nasty ruckus. After they disturb everybody and get their publicity. They proudly march back home, until their next visit about 29 days later.”

I had no idea of how she’d react, since I don’t really know the person. Also, pretty much everyone who accepts the media’s version would never be open enough to see it in my rather simplistic way. I’m not getting into the obvious right of people to observe how they wish and that it is all between “man/woman and Gd.” My point here is simply about good manners.

These same women have no problem with all of the antisemitic rules forbidding Jews to pray and barely visit the Temple Mount. They are not in favor of religious freedom for all. They just want their monthly publicity. That hypocrisy, of course, is completely ignored by pretty much everyone. They want their rules to rule but don’t support others.

I’ve been going to the Kotel on occasion for almost fifty years. The people who are there 24/7 observe, follow and respect the accepted Torah way, aka Orthodox Judaism. Visitors who don’t live that way, Jews and non-Jews, mostly find that aspect extremely spiritual and uplifting. Most visitors are inspired by the peacefulness of the place. That’s what people come for, to connect to being as close to the location of the Jewish Holy Temple as we can easily get to. Some of us focus our prayers on the Temple Mount, since ascending the Mount isn’t easy.

Just like when you may (if you do) enter a place of worship of another religion, you dress and act respectfully in order not to disturb the peace, one should do the same at the Kotel. Yes, as if it’s another religion, because if you follow different rulings, you have changed things. If you want to be respected, then respect others.

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18)
Love your neighbor as yourself – Rabbi Akiva said: this is the most important principle in the Torah.
“What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; now go and learn.” (Shabbat 31a)

When a group brazenly breaks the status quo, like the Women of the Wall, demanding that everyone kowtow to their way of thinking, they are the ones who are going against this basic “Love your neighbor as yourself” principle. If they want to pray differently , there is a different place that already exists near the western plaza. My guess is they reject it, because they know that their followers do not pray 24/7, neither the men nor the women. They fear that if they accept that other location people will publicize how deserted it is most of the time, which proves that they don’t have any real following. It’s all a big publicity stunt.

Yes, I’ve said it. WOW is just a well-funded group to damage the image of the Israeli Rabbinate. Consider it an Israeli J-Street.

Shiloh, From All Over the World

Every Rosh Chodesh, when I get together with women to pray at the site of the Biblical Mishkan, Tabernacle, we end up talking to groups of tourists and volunteers from all over the world, all different religions. And yesterday was no exception. 

Shiloh is definitely on the map as a place of great historic and religious significance. Of course, this doesn't surprise us. That's why we make every effort to pray together on the first day of the Jewish Month, davka here in Shiloh. There are two reasons for this. One is that Rosh Chodesh is considered a "women's holiday," and the other is that Shiloh is the location where the Biblical Chana successfully prayed for a child.

Archeologists have been attracted to Shiloh for centuries, and they have consistently confirmed the basic Biblical narrative about Shiloh and even more. Unlike what was once believed, there was an active Jewish community in Shiloh long after the destruction of the Mishkan, Tabernacle.

In four weeks, it will the the first day of the Month of Av, and we'll be back in Shiloh praying together. Here are the details:

Women's Prayers at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh

Rosh Chodesh Av, 5777 
Monday, July 24, 2017 

1st of Av, 5777, 8:30am 

Hallel and Musaf for Rosh Chodesh 

Tour of Tel Shiloh 

Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson 

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors. 

תפילת נשים ראש חודש אב
בשילה הקדומה, תל שילה
יום ב' 24-7-2017

א' תמוז, תשע"ז 8:30
הלל ומוסף לראש חודש
יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל
כדאי לבוא ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

Today there's a large, vibrant and thriving Jewish Community in Shiloh, all in walking distance of the Ancient Biblical site. You can visit Shiloh Hakeduma all weekdays. For more information call 02-994-4019.
Please mark it in your calendar/diary/event planner so you can join us, Gd willing. If you have more questions about it, please contact me shilohmuse@gmail.com with "Rosh Chodesh" as subject. Our women's dovening isn't a version of male synagogue prayers. We sing Hallel out loud and then doven Musaf individually.

Korach, A Very Troubled Parsha, Torah Personality and Story

This past Shabbat twas the Torah Portion Korach, Korach: Numbers 16:1 - 18:32. Korach was one of the most notorious rebels in the Chumash, the First Five Books of the Bible. He tried to mastermind a rebellion against Gd, claiming that he was rebelling against Moses.

Korach gathered other tribal leaders, who felt that they had lost out on leadership positions. Of course, looking at it from our perspective, we know that if they had managed to depose Moses, then they would have ended up fighting among themselves for top job.

At the Shabbat meal at a neighbor I got into a very interesting discussion which ended up putting Korach in a slightly different light.

My neighbor suggested remembering the previous Torah Portion, Shlach, and then try to understand Korach in that context. It suddenly hit me that Korach, as a Levi, wasn't part of the great "Pilot Trip" by the tribal leaders to stake out portions of the Land of Israel. Levi wasn't going to get any Land. Joseph's two sons were each counted as if a son of Jacob, making twelve if the tribe of Levi was left out. That meant that in the crucial "vote" which was a rebellious ten against two resulting in a forty year delay to for entering the Land of Israel, Korach didn't have a vote.

As a Levi, Korach not only had no tribal portion, no vote, and in addition he'd also die along with the rest of his peers. My neighbor reminded us that the Levi tribe also had more gold and silver, which were useless in the wilderness. The other tribes had wasted theirs when making the sinful Golden Calf.

Yes, it's pretty easy to see why Korach wasn't a happy camper.

• He wasn't going to get any Land.
• His money had no value.
• And he realized that he'd be spending the rest of his life as his cousins' servant.

In order to galvanize the people to join him, Korach distorted and connived. He falsified the source of the division of labor of the Tribe of Levi, claiming that it was Moses, not Gd, who had assigned the roles of the Levi Tribe. Korach left Gd out of the argument, and he managed to get the support of others who weren't happy with their share of power.

Korach did his best to speak as if he was an expert in Judaism of the time. He reminds me of the Jewish Leftists who insist that their Liberal Western ideology is Judaism and that we who do live as Torah Jews go against Jewish Morality and Values.

Unlike in modern, western culture, values and judgments, Korach's psychological state was of no concern to Gd. When Gd commands, it's an absolute, not open to negotiations. Korach wasn't jailed or isolated. He wasn't given a "timeout," a chance to "think about his mistake." Korach and his followers were immediately executed, swallowed up by the earth, so there couldn't be a grave or memorial. Gd made it 100% clear that certain crimes/criminals can't be forgiven. Such a rebellion against Gd could not be "undone" by Tshuva, Repentance.

What will Gd do to today's Korach?

Horrendously Useless New Bus Shelters/Stops

Our regional council, Binyamin just replaced most of the bus stops with these awful tin cans. You can't see if a bus is coming, and drivers can't see if anyone is waiting inside.  The clerks, who get "company cars," claim they chose them to keep us dry when it rains, just a few/months weeks a year.

Considering how closed they are, the buses will just pass us by unless we stand outside. So what's the point?!


Are they safe in a lightning storm?

El Al's Cacophony of "Musical Chairs," Women Can't Be Moved!

Just under a year ago, when I rushed to New York from Israel to attend my brother's funeral, I was given a "sympathy upgrade" from Economy to First Class. But before I got my seat belt buckled a man sat down in the nearby seat and complained to the flight attendant.

Now, you should know that El Al's First Class offers a lot of privacy, and the seats are pretty much separated from each other.  But as it was explained to me, the man had bought his ticket with a promise that no woman would be next to him. So I was moved a row back to Business Class, which had the same sort of seat that fully opened to a bed but was closer to the other seats. There may have been other differences in terms of service, but for me Business Class was very luxurious, and I hadn't paid the exorbitant price. And since this was a free upgrade dependant on availability, as a special favor, I didn't complain.

My situation was totally different from the woman who sued El Al. She had paid for her Business Class seat, and the attendants should have told the man who demanded that she be moved that he would be moved. That would have made sense!

Instead, she sued them, and now men can't demand that women lose their seats.

If El Al would have made their policy to downgrade men who complained, then the men would have stopped making these demands a long time ago!

Here I am in the airport on a different trip.

Grrr... Now Team Trump is Harassing Us

I'm color/party blind. I don't go for this Peace-Deal Harassment no matter who's pushing it. It's the same nightmare in the making whether by a Bush, a Clinton, Barack Hussein Obama or Donald Trump.

• It's not going to make a real Peace.
• It will only increase and encourage terror.

Unlike Team Trump, I'm not new to this part of the world. I've been in Israel since 1970 which can be rounded off to half a century. Even before making Aliyah, I was one of the Jewish "activists" and kept up with the news of what was happening here and what our enemies were saying and doing.

Headlines like these just make me nervous:

Kushner and Abbas hold 'productive' meeting
KUSHNER MEETS WITH ABBAS IN BID TO RENEW PEACE PROCESS
Trump's son-in-law launches Middle East peace effort

It's pretty obvious that US President Trump is getting desperate to raise his "approval ratings" and distract the American public from all the scandals, whether baseless or legitimate, that are plaguing his presidency. Unfortunately, he seems to think that Israel's an "easy lay," that we'll fall for more meaningless promises from the arab terrorists aka Palestinians, sic. 

Unlike our Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and many others, I consider it much too dangerous to count on the Arabs shooting themselves in the foot and rejecting whatever horrendously dangerous for Israel concessions we end up offering. We should stop count on winning by default. It's going to end very soon. We have to speak plain and clear and stop encouraging the growing pressures on us.

The photo above is of the ongoing archaeological digs in Tel Shiloh, a short walk from my house. The artifacts dug up are confirming the history here as we Jews see it. It's our history from thousands of years ago. we have no returned home to our ancient historic homeland. We Jews are the only People native to this land as as sovereign nation. We should do nothing to endanger our living here, and a peace, sic, treaty that recognizes Arabs as having equal/parallel rights to ours will endanger the continued existence of the State of Israel. 

Finally, Ground Being Broken for Town of Amichai, B"H

Yesterday morning while riding from Shiloh to Kochav Hashachar I could see the empty hill that had been promised to those displaced from Amona and was so sad. What was taking so long? Why is the Netanyahu Government making them suffer further?

And then while returning home we suddenly noticed something new on the landscape. There were tractors working on the hill. Amichai, My People Lives, the new town for Amona and others who want to live here in one of the most beautiful and central parts of the Land of Israel is starting to be built! Unfortunately I couldn't photograph it, but I did see it!

When the Amona "DPs" had been protesting outside of the Prime Minister's Residence I spoke to one of the women who had lost her home. I introduced myself as being from Shiloh and told her that we were looking forward to their new town being in our area.

She said that she was looking forward to starting a new community and had no problem moving from "near Ofra" to "near Shiloh." What was important to her was that they could move and build and not be harassed by the government and Leftist groups.

Gd willing, the first stage of temporary homes will be ready for them by the beginning of the school year, and they will be able to quickly plan and build their permanent housing. And of course, Gd willing many more families will join them.

I Have to Agree With Our Arab Enemies on This

PALESTINIANS EXPRESS RESERVATIONS ON PEACE TALKS BEFORE KUSHNER, GREENBLATT VISIT

Same conclusions from different directions...

Honestly, it doesn't matter one single iota what excuses the Arabs give for their "reservations" about "peace" sic talks, because we/Israel can't make peace with the Arab terrorists by talking or negotiating.

The so-called "Israel-Arab conflict," sic, is not about Land, and it's not just about Israel. There's a major theological characteristic in Islam, and Christianity, too, that preaches non-acceptance of other religions in favor of converting non-believers. This is in direct contrast to Judaism which tries to frustrate and push off potential or wannabe converts.

This extends to permitting others to live and thrive in land they consider theirs. There is no way that the fundamentalist Muslims can negotiate a "peace" with Israel, because it would force them to acknowledge and accept the State of Israel's sovereignty even in Tel Aviv. They have been saying this very clearly. It's not a "negotiating point" for them.

It is essential that Israelis, Left, Right and Center recognize this reality and stop cooperating with dangerous and useless negotiations to a "Two State Solution."

The so-called "Israel-Arab conflict," sic, is not about Land.

Preview of New Museum in Jerusalem

Yesterday we were given a preview of a new museum in the Old City of Jerusalem. It's located in the building where we had first lived when we came to Israel, the Maon Betar, which is now used by Yeshivat Netiv Arye as a dormitory, on the corner Rechov Hayehudim and Rechov Plugat Hakotel, (Kotel Patrol Street.) 

The street is called Plugat Hakotel in honor of the group that was headquartered there during the period of Arab violence against Jews which British Mandate Police didn't stop before the establishment of the State of Israel. 

We got to see the movie that will be the highlight of museum. It tells of a young European immigrant to the Land of Israel. This young man came from a secular Jewish home but was attracted to living in the Jewish Holy Land.

He ends up joining the Kotel Patrol, which is challenged with defying the British pro-Arab ruling that forbade blowing the shofar at the Kotel. Any Jew who even attempted to bring a shofar to the Jewish Holy Site would be arrested, and the punishment for blowing it was worse.

The group is taught how to blow a shofar, which is a lot more difficult than you would think. But the biggest problem was smuggling one into the very small Kotel area, which was guarded and patrolled by the anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist British Mandate Soldiers/Police.

When we lived in that building, one of our neighbors was Rav Moshe Tzvi Segal whose claim to fame was blowing the shofar at the end of Yom Kippur. So for us, the movie had a lot of personal significance even though the movie character who manages against all odds to blow the shofar was nothing like our dear friend.

The movie is nicely made and conceived. Gd willing, I'll provide more information on the museum when it opens to the general public.

Ramadan Terror

Anyone who still falls for the line that "Islam Is a Religion of Peace" has to be totally nuts. Now we're in the last week of Ramadan, and then the Eid al-Fitr festival. So, unfortunately the chances are that Arab/muslim terror attacks will increase:

"...the overwhelming majority of the world’s terrorists and supporters of terror are Muslims..." (PJ Media)

It happens every year. And just to be pragmatic, since more and more countries and communities have sizable and comfortable/confident muslim populations, the chances are that violence and terror during this season will spread, too.

Remember that the season of Ramadan gradually changes each year, because their calendar is totally lunar, based on twelve months. The Muslim Calendar is unlike the internationally accepted Christian Calendar, which includes an extra day every four years and has months mostly of 30-31 days not related to the moon, or the Jewish Calendar that has a very accurate formula for adding months to keep its lunar calendar rooted to the Land's solar seasons.

Every year for Ramadan, the Israeli Government eases permits to allow Muslims to enter Jerusalem and pray on the Temple Mount, and every year the terror increases.

HADAS MALKA, KILLED BY TERRORIST AT DAMASCUS GATE, REMEMBERED AS LOVING, BRAVE WARRIOR 

Jerusalem Post

Temple Mount

Parshat Shlach, The "Mother of All" Pilot Trips Gone Bad

One of the big "misnomers" in Jewish Parshat Shavua, Torah Portion of the Week is calling this week's parsha, Shlach-Send "The Sin of the Spies." The very large and honorable delegation sent off to scout out, or more accurately to stake out the Holy Land weren't called מרגלים miraglim, spies in the Biblical narrative. That's because they weren't spies!

Numbers Chapter 13

1The Lord spoke to Moses saying,		אוַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־משֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר:
2"Send out for yourself men who will scout the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send one man each for his father's tribe; each one shall be a chieftain in their midst."		בשְׁלַח לְךָ֣ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְיָתֻ֨רוּ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י נֹתֵ֖ן לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָד֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד לְמַטֵּ֤ה אֲבֹתָיו֙ תִּשְׁלָ֔חוּ כֹּ֖ל נָשִׂ֥יא בָהֶֽם:

The tribal heads had been sent on what's now called a pilot trip, to stake out, choose the best location for the tribe to settle once they all arrived.

For the past few decades it has been highly recommended that potential olim, immigrants to Israel come a few months or year before their actual immigration date to check out locations, schools etc. Nefesh B'Nefesh and AACI along with other immigrant organizations assist in planning these visits to facilitate an easier more successful aliyah.

17Moses sent them to scout the Land of Canaan, and he said to them, "Go up this way in the south and climb up the mountain.		יזוַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח אֹתָם֙ משֶׁ֔ה לָת֖וּר אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם עֲל֥וּ זֶה֙ בַּנֶּ֔גֶב וַֽעֲלִיתֶ֖ם אֶת־הָהָֽר:
18You shall see what [kind of] land it is, and the people who inhabit it; are they strong or weak? Are there few or many?		יחוּרְאִיתֶ֥ם אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ מַה־הִ֑וא וְאֶת־הָעָם֙ הַיּשֵׁ֣ב עָלֶ֔יהָ הֶֽחָזָ֥ק הוּא֙ הֲרָפֶ֔ה הַמְעַ֥ט ה֖וּא אִם־רָֽב:
19And what of the land they inhabit? Is it good or bad? And what of the cities in which they reside are they in camps or in fortresses?		יטוּמָ֣ה הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־הוּא֙ ישֵׁ֣ב בָּ֔הּ הֲטוֹבָ֥ה הִ֖וא אִם־רָעָ֑ה וּמָ֣ה הֶֽעָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁר־הוּא֙ יוֹשֵׁ֣ב בָּהֵ֔נָּה הַֽבְּמַֽחֲנִ֖ים אִ֥ם בְּמִבְצָרִֽים:
20What is the soil like is it fat or lean? Are there any trees in it or not? You shall be courageous and take from the fruit of the land." It was the season when the first grapes begin to ripen.		כוּמָ֣ה הָ֠אָ֠רֶץ הַשְּׁמֵנָ֨ה הִ֜וא אִם־רָזָ֗ה הֲיֵֽשׁ־בָּ֥הּ עֵץ֙ אִם־אַ֔יִן וְהִ֨תְחַזַּקְתֶּ֔ם וּלְקַחְתֶּ֖ם מִפְּרִ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ וְהַ֨יָּמִ֔ים יְמֵ֖י בִּכּוּרֵ֥י עֲנָבִֽים:

They weren't sent out to discuss the pros and cons of living in the Holy Land. They just needed to prepare realistically. And they were supposed to bring back souvenirs, like the grapes, to show their tribes how wonderful the Land is.

But except for  Calev and Yehoshua they failed miserably. They sinned and in that they were punished by Gd, and only the next generation was allowed to enter the Land.

Bibi's Land Policies Bad For Jews

Even though the Israeli media and "world public opinion" insist on labeling our Prime Minister as "Right," the truth is that his policies are far to the Left of the Israeli political spectrum. I can easily admit that he can give a great speech, which even echoes the basic principles of what's considered Right policies. But the truth is in actions and not words. And when it comes to actions, or policies, there's nothing Right about Prime Minister Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu.

Here in 21st Century Israel the key to judging/measuring Right/Left on the political spectrum is one's policies and attitude to the Land of Israel, statehood and sovereignty.  In a nutshell that means that if someone is in favor of Jews living, building and being sovereign in the Land of Israel, ignoring the 1949 Armistice lines, then he/she is on the Right. If one sees a legal holiness or eternal permanence in those lines and consider them as a border between an "Israel of all its citizens" and a judenrein apartheid Arab state called "Palestine" or "West Bank of Jordan," then he/she is on the Left.

Bibi is a pretty smooth speaker and could have been a hell of a used car salesman, but we've heard his lies a few times too often. Those "like new" cars are lemons with doctored records.

While Bibi keeps on touting the hundreds of Jewish homes he has approved for building, they are the same ones that were approved years ago but never built.  Bibi doesn't play those games with the Arabs. They have a new city called Rawabi, and now even on land that was supposed to be for Jewish only building, Jews can't get permits but Arabs can:

FIVE PALESTINIANS CITIES TO EXPAND INTO AREA C

I'm not being paranoid!

Why are we Jews being held back? Why hasn't the new Amona been brought here?

Bibi has promised that a new community will be built southeast of Shiloh. There will be special "incentives" for the Amona community, and it will also be open for other Jewish families. We are waiting. Words won't help. We want action!

Peace Impossible: PA Paying Terrorists!

So far, at least, it seems that United States President Donald Trump has a "red line" when it comes to PA's Abbas and the "peace deal" business. Trump realizes that there is no chance for "peace" if the PA continues to pay convicted Arab terrorists and their families.

The Palestinian Authority can’t stop paying terrorists — so Trump can’t make a deal

Gd willing, Trump will stick to this condition. And I should hope that with all that total chaos going on with his administration, he'll decide that any peace sic negotiations will just make his life even more of a hell.

Poolside Philosophy

It's rather amazing what we can all get used to. A couple of weeks ago the local Shiloh Swimming Pool opened, and I was one of the hardier, more daing women to go swimming on those very first days when the water was freezing cold. Yes, the water was cold, and even we thought we were crazy.

Three of showed up the first night it was open, Women's Hours, when not only weren't there any little kids making noise, but the sun wasn't shining either. It was dark and cold.

The only concession I made to the weather was to climb in by ladder, instead of a big body-shocking jump.

I decided that considering my age, maybe a big jump wouldn't be a very good idea.

And the next morning, we all showed up again.

Even though the sun was shining, I decided to be cautious. It was a good move. As strong as the sun was, it was no match for the cold water.

But the cold water didn't force us out. We kept on moving, and our bodies quickly adjusted.

We really don't know what lies beneath the water, and we certainly can't guess the temperature just by looking.

The water is a lot like people. We tend to judge it by wishful thinking. We frequently read into people what we want them to be. That can cause a lot of trouble.

Water reflects more than images. What happens at the pool is a reflection of the community. Suddenly this year, more than ever before, the other swimmers seem to terribly young. And when I look around I realize that I'm the oldest person in the pool.

It used to be that Women's Hours were more Middle-aged, rather than eighteen plus. But now it seems that even those who have barely finished high school prefer the quiet and peaceful adult swim time. In the past, we'd only see the younger women if they were in training to pass the swimming part of the lifeguard test.

Shiloh and the surrounding communities  are getting younger, thank Gd. There are more preschools opening up. Many young families are attracted to living here for the convenient location, good schools and basic services, such as clinics, stores and of course the pool.

Fifteen Years Like Yesterday, Terrorized

May 28, 2002 - Netanel Riachi, 17, of Kochav Ya'akov; Gilad Stiglitz, 14, of Yakir; and Avraham Siton, 17, of Shilo - three yeshiva high school students - were killed and two others wounded in Itamar, southeast of Nablus, when a Palestinian gunman infiltrated the community and opened fire on the teenagers playing basketball, before he was shot dead by a security guard. The Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. (jewishvirtuallibrary.org)

Yesterday, family, neighbors and friends of Avi Siton, HaYa"D, gathered at his grave in the Shiloh Cemetery. It's hard to believe that in another two years, unless the Moshiach comes first, he'll be in his grave as long as he had once breathed.

In the past fifteen years, there have been many changes to his family. Most of his siblings, are now married with children of their own. And some of those nieces and nephews were at the Memorial Ceremony. Like in other Israeli families much too familiar with death, for these children a cemetery is a normal gathering place for the family. Here in Israel, it's very accepted for children to attend funerals and memorials. Davka, this way they do not find it a fearful and traumatic location. Life and death are intrinsic parts of life here.

When I was googling that terror Arab attack for this post, I was horrified/reminded of how frequent terror attacks were fifteen years ago and how many young people, besides those of all ages, were murdered. Avi wasn't the only Shiloh teen murdered by Arab terrorists during that time. His best friend Shmuel Yerushalmi, HaYa"D, was murdered at the French Hill bus stop at the same time that their next door neighbor's granddaughter, Gila Kessler, HaYa"D, was killed, and just a few months later Noam Apter, HaYa"D, was murdered in the terror attack at the Otniel yeshiva.

As a mother of young IDF soldiers at the time, I was more terrified when my sons traveled to and from their bases or walked in Jerusalem than when in official army action. Yes, it was a terrifying time for all of us here. No location was immune.

Arab terrorists have no "red lines," and over the years even Arabs have been victims of Arab terror acts.

The Palestinian Authority, supported by generous donations from the United Nations, European Union, numerous foreign countries and NGOs, gives a pension to Arab terrorists and their families. That's where the money goes besides to line the pockets PA, Hamas and Gazan leaders. They are generations away from being ready to live in peace with the State of Israel.

Cemeteries may appear quiet and calm, but underneath the stones, there are stories, memories that shouldn't be forgotten.

Is Bibi Campaigning Again?

I don't think that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be so quick to call snap elections after his last try and the lack of success it brought Britain's Theresa May. But Bibi always seems to be campaigning.

NETANYAHU CALLS TO DISBAND UNRWA AND TO STOP FOREIGN-FUNDED NGOS

Maybe it's because that's what his competitors in and out of the cabinet are doing.

What Faux Peace Game is Lieberman Playing?

There's no rest for Bibi, but there could be if he'd break out out of that "center" of the political bagel he has been hiding in.

The State of Israel needs real leadership from the patriotic Right and not more empty words which sound better in an editorial or blog post. I write these things but have no power other than to spread my ideas. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is the leader of the likud and the State of Israel. He should do and not talk.

Amateur POTUS, Blame Primaries System

It's no real surprise that there is chaos and anarchy in the White House. There's a simple reason. The United States Government is being run by total amateurs to the political system. This is the first time that a president was elected with absolutely no government or military background, especially one who didn't owe any favors to the political establishment of either party.

Trump made it on his own, because in the 21st Century Primaries System for electing a party nominee, anyone can run for the United States Presidency. And Donald Trump has proven that anyone can win. Trump's national popularity was as a reality TV star, who knew what people wanted to hear but didn't have the power to say it publicly. He honed in on this talent and was greatly amused to discover that his most outrageous statements as a wannabe candidate gave him oodles of free publicity, since the news stations and talk shows quickly discovered that by interviewing Trump or having him as the subject of discussion, even totally negative, got them sky high viewer ratings. And that brought them money.

Consider that although the other Republican wannabes included another Bush-dynasty candidate with the charisma of an over-boiled potato, some sincere though colorless Republican politicians and a retired Black surgeon who not only added color but was pretty popular, it was no surprise that Trump won the nomination.

It wasn't a great surprise that Trump beat Hillary Clinton who promised Americans their worst nightmare come true. And, no, it had nothing to do with her being female. Those who try to raise their families with old-fashioned Family Values actually preferred Trump's locker room gutter/sexist talk to the newfangled Rainbow and families Hillary and the Democrats are now promising. And then she totally sealed her political coffin by calling Trump supporters "deplorables."

So, Donald Trump, whose only experience with politicians was getting his real estate projects approved suddenly had a whole country to run and thousands of jobs to fill and absolutely no idea of how to do it. Add to that, he and his trusted staff just don't know suitable people for these jobs. And instead of handing it over to his Vice President, who at least is an experienced politician, he assigned the job to his older daughter and her husband. Ivanka and Jared Kushner may be a lot more pleasant and photogenic than The Donald, but their political experience isn't any greater.

It certainly isn't helping that the blatantly anti-Trump media has triggered severe paranoia from POTUS and his family.

I expect more anarchy and chaos until whoever wins the 2020 Elections takes charge. In all honesty, I think that the old method of choosing nominees by political powerhouses brought in better, more qualified and experienced office holders. And in those days it wasn't so impossibly expensive to run for the presidency.  A wannabe spent 4-10 years doing favors, campaigning for others to develop a national following and getting to know the country, while Americans got to know the ambitious politician.

In today's USA, Presidential campaigns are just another reality TV series.

Good Luck, America!

What Faux Peace Game is Lieberman Playing?

This was first posted on Israel Blogger

DEFENSE MINISTER: CLOSER THAN 'EVER BEFORE' TO AGREEMENT WITH PALESTINIANS

Nothing causes the terror rate to rise more than talk of "peace" and Ramadan. Now, we can't control the every twelve month Ramadan, but we can desist from claiming that there will soon be a "peace agreement" with the Arabs who have unabashedly sworn to destroy us.

All this "peace talk" makes us look weak, wimpy, desperate and vulnerable. That's bad, because it encourages our enemies to attack and our so-called friends to pressure us to make "compromises" and more gestures to encourage the Arabs to make a deal.

How many times do wwe have to do this until people realise that it's a dangerous game?

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has come out with so many contradictory statements over the decades he has been on the political scene that the best guess is that he has no real ideology, just raw ambition.

So, the chances are that he senses some weakness in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's present standing, and he's just jockeying for position, hoping to pounce.  We've seen this before, and It probably won't be the last time.

Do you have a better guess?

GUEST POST: USA Jews vs British Jews

USA Jews vs British Jews
a guest post by Mr. Cohen

According to recent articles in the Algemeiner Jewish newspaper,

British Jews are leaving the Labour Party because of anti-Semitism

in that party.

When will American Jews wake up and leave the Democratic Party,

for the same reason?
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http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-from-democrat-to-conservative.html

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PLEASE help the battle against
internet anti-Semitism by making
a PayPal donation to:

FourCupsOfWine@gmail.com.

THANK YOU!!

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OTHER BLOG POSTS BY MR. COHEN:

Quick Bible Quotes from Joshua and Jeremiah:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-joshua-chapter-23-verse-12.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/guest-post-jeremiah-chapter-17.html

Ancient Roman historians connected Jews with the Land of Israel and Jerusalem:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/02/guest-post-josephus-vs-muslim-liars.html
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/05/guest-post-cornelius-tacticus.html

Rambam Rejected Childless Messiah:

http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/08/rambam-rejected-childless-messiah-by-mr.html

Why Muslims Hate Jews:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/guest-post-why-muslims-hate-jews.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-moynihan-1982.html

Forgotten Oppression against Jews:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-forgotten-oppression.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/03/guest-post-forgotten-anti-semitism.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/06/guest-post-kiddush-hashem-1498.html

American anti-Semitism:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-seven-times-stronger.html

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-jewish-nyc-mayor.html

How a Reform Rabbi Become Orthodox (true story):

http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/07/how-did-reform-rabbi-become-orthodox-jew.html

Sephardic Jews Reject Reform Judaism:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/07/sephardim-reject-reform.html

Greek NYC Jews and Syrian NYC Jews:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/03/greek-jews-syrian-jews.html

How to Convict the New York Times of Unfair Bias Against Israel:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-how-to-convict-new-york-times.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-nyt-erases-israel-from-map.html
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/03/guest-postnyt-vs-israel.html

Why Pray for Tzahal-IDF:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/04/guest-post-why-pray-for-idf.html

How to Pray for Tzahal-IDF:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/how-to-pray-for-tzahal-idf.html

Why Israel’s 1967 Borders are Undefendable:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/03/guest-post-why-1967-borders-are-suicide.html

Do Palestinians Want a Two-State Solution?

by Daniel Polisar, PhD in Political Science
https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2017/04/do-palestinians-want-a-two-state-solution/

Article Refuting the so-called “Two-State Solution”:

https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/2017/06/when-it-comes-to-territorial-compromise-israel-doesnt-have-a-choice/

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PLEASE HELP DEFEND ISRAEL FROM UNFAIR MEDIA:
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http://advocacy.ou.org/
https://antisemitism.uk/
https://twitter.com/EyeOnHamas 

www.camera.org

www.DanielPipes.org
www.FactsAndLogic.org

www.HonestReporting.com              
www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

www.memri.org

www.memriTV.org
www.MideastReporter.com
www.MythsAndFacts.org                 
www.TheIsraelProject.org

www.BBCwatch.org                         

www.jhrw.com                                  

www.ngo-monitor.org
www.PalWatch.org                           
www.UKMediaWatch.org
www.UNwatch.org

www.aish.com/jw/mo/4-Reasons-Why-the-Media-is-Biased-against-Israel.html
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