The Street vs Democracy-- FOLLOW THE MONEY

 

screenshot from Channel 14 News
Last night's antigovernment demonstration

It seems like the whole world has heard that the legally, democratically elected Israeli Government has passed a very necessary law to reform the judiciary, which has set itself up as the alternative government vetoing laws. The judiciary is very political. One law for the Left and another for the Right.

To be perfectly honest and accurate the demonstrations predate the present government's bill for judicial reform. 

For those trying to understand the basic issue here in Israel. Very simple. Judges have put themselves above the parliament and rule according to their opinions and ideologies, rather than laws. They have declared themselves above the law with rights to veto according to their personal feelings aka reasonableness. They can perpetuate their politics by choosing their successors. Basically this has disenfranchised the voters and made a farce out of elections. Yes, the judges and their supporters are the antidemocracy group.

Israel is a parliamentary democracy. We vote for political parties. After most elections, the leader of the party that has received the most votes manages to negotiate a coalition with other parties which has more than half of the 120 Members of Knesset. The Likud has gotten the most votes/seats in most recent elections including the November, 2022 elections, in which he and a few other political parties campaigned as a block promising to form a stable coalition. That's what happened, so therefore according to Israeli law and democracy Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu is the legal Prime Minister of the State of Israel. 

For the past few years, definitely predating those recent elections, there has been a well-funded movement to push Bibi out of his number one position in Likud and out the office of Prime Minister. It's called "ANYONE BUT BIBI." For years when he had previously been PM, including the COVID lockdown, there had been weekly demonstrations near the official prime minister's residence calling for Bibi's ouster. This was hell for the neighbors, since the courts/judges insisted that in their superior wisdom, the demonstrators' rights trumped theirs. And when during the COVID lockdown schools, synagogues and many places of work had been forced to be closed, the judges decided that demonstrations must continue...

There was quiet during the year that Naftali Bennett's government stood, which continued when it fell and Yair Lapid was interim Prime Minister. Since Netanyahu returned to office not only have the demonstrations returned bigger and better equipped than before, but their spokespeople/leaders have become louder and more outrageous. Led by two former disgraced Prime Ministers, Ehud Olmert* and Ehud Barak** we now hear unabashed calls for rebellion and refusal to serve in the IDF. This is treason, no less. They are basically calling on the Israeli public to destroy the country. But the courts are in their favor and find nothing wrong.

These antigovernment demonstrations are very expensive to run. Who's funding them? It's no secret that money is coming from abroad, and some of that money has been traced to the American Government. Administrations led by Democrat Party Presidents do not like working with Netanyahu. Obama couldn't find his famous smile when posing with Bibi.

It's clear that there's something very dirty going on. These demonstrations, riots etc. have nothing to do with wanting democracy for the State of Israel. The leaders are bamboozling their followers with slogans. The street isn't democracy. Let's find out who's really behind this.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

*Olmert had spent time in jail convicted on corruption charges. 

**Barak is known to have been a good friend of disgraced Jeffrey Epstein, besides other problematic relationships

History of Jordan and Palestine in a Nutshell

 

A little history...

East of these mountains I can see from my house is Jordan...

Here's the very short history of Jordan. It was invented by Britain when they were looking for someone to hold onto the eastern part of the Mandate. The entire Mandate was supposed to become a Jewish State. So the Brits imported a foreign sheik, Abdulla and made up the "Kingdom of Jordan."

Then they and their buddies in the newly formed UN decided that the Jews should share what was left with another Arab "nation", as if Abdulla wasn't Arab. They drew a map, which resembled blood splatter, and told the Jews, grandparents and parent of those rioting against Bibi, that they could have the splotches while the rest would go to the "palestinians." And that's how that "nation" was born.

Rosh Chodesh Av Women's Prayers Tel Shiloh

Ladies, join us for Rosh Chodesh Prayers at Holy Shiloh. Yes, the same Shiloh as mentioned in the Bible where Chana prayed for a son, where the Mishkan, Tabernacle stood for 369 years. Yes, it predated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Ancient Shiloh is the archeological site at the Tel. There are lots of things to see and do for all ages, a movie, museum, hologram and lots more. For more information 02-578-9111 or visit@telshilo.org.il.

Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path, A Book Review

As many of you may know, I've been studying Tanach/Bible for many years here in Shiloh, also Matan and more recently classes on the internet on Torah in Motion among other places. When an old friend, with whom I've recently reestablished contact decided I must read Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path, by Leila Gal Berner, I agreed. Soon after the book arrived in our local postal box.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect, since she's a Reconstructionist rabbi, and that's not my Judaism.  But I didn't let that stop me from reading the book. Tanach study, theology and Torah observance aren't of the same Jewish genres. I figured that worse comes to worse I can always say that I disagree with her approach. And to be perfectly honest, if I couldn't say anything nice, I wouldn't say anything in public.

The truth is that I enjoyed Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path very much. Reading it was like studying with a friend, sharing words of Chazal, the Sages and personal opinions about the text with friends. I participate in learning groups, and some of the classes I attend are very participatory, so I felt very comfortable listening/reading Leila Gal Berner's interpretations and quotations from the sages. 

I think that Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path is a wonderful way to get to know Bereishit, Genesis, the first book of the Bible. I certainly learned a lot. I don't consider myself a Bible scholar even though I've been learning Bible for many years; it's an enormous collection of books of various genres. It's clear that Leila Gal Berner is very knowledgeable about the Bible including classical commentaries. 

One of the reasons I can recommend Leila Gal Berner's Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path is that in the early days of the Shiloh Elementary School children were taught the Bible according to a rarely used method. They were told to read the straight text and discuss it to understand it. They weren't taught any of the classical, standard commentaries. Too often people, even adults mistakenly quote midrash/commentary thinking that it's written in the Bible. This almost never happens with those who were first taught pshat, the straight text, and encouraged to find ways to make it comprehensible themselves, or in discussion with others. I must admit that people sometimes roll their eyes at my interpretations, which I'm never shy about voicing, but then again I'm not shy at telling people that the Biblical example they're voicing is just a midrash and not written in the Bible.

Genesis is just the first book of the Bible; there's so much for all of us to learn. If you're learning in a language other than Hebrew, try to get the most accurate Jewish translation, not anything modern or politically edited.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cascade Books (February 4, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 278 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1498205925
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1498205924