Ladies, Let's Pray Together on Rosh Chodesh Tevet נשים, נתפלל ביחד

Gd needs to hear our prayers, and we need to pray together in holiest spot in the world for women's prayers. Yes, Ancient Shiloh, where the Biblical Chana prayed for a son. Her son Shmuel Led the Jewish People for many years and then anointed our first two kings, Shaul and David.

Rosh Chodesh Tevet, Wednesday 13-12-2023, 8:30am

תפילת נשים בשילה הקדומה

ראש חודש טבת יום ד' 13\12\2013 ב8:30

Israel Attacked by Hamas 2023/5784, War Musings #11 Bibi Blinked!

Bibi Blinked and Then Stuffed His Ears...

Many years ago, a fellow blogger (who's no longer on the blogging scene) photoshopped Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu's face in the center of a bagel for me. 

More about the image of Bibi in the center of the bagel... This is what I had envisioned over fifteen years ago after hearing Bibi state that when he returns the position of Prime Minister of Israel, he'd promote centrist policies, since he considered it the proper way to be a national leader. This image of a directionless Netanyahu popped into my head. A true leader must have a clear vision חזון. A centrist stands still, or goes in useless circles. When a country stands still it dies. 

In the Center one circles endlessly repeating mistakes, which is exactly what Bibi and his loyal voters have been doing. Why are people surprised? I've been expecting such a war ever since he began his "Hamas has leaned its lesson" and then he'd agree to a ceasefire, until the next round. Making such a mistake once may be understandable, but to endlessly repeat is is beyond stupid. 

To me it was perfectly clear that the "lesson" Hamas was learning was not that Israel's tougher, but it was how to aim their rockets better. And the icing on the cake for them was how quickly Israel would lie to itself and agree to a ceasefire. 

Now we're paying the price. And considering the perverse sadistic cruelty Hamas has unabashedly been showing to the world, I must admit that not even I ever envisioned something so insanely psychopathic. Having grown up post-World War Two and always hearing that there was nothing worse than the Nazis and the Holocaust, I now have no doubt that Hamas is much worse than the Nazis. 

Netanyahu is my age and was raised by a famous academic historian, so how is it that he doesn't see what I see? How can he trust Hamas? Hamas is proud of the carnage, the rape, decapitation, burning of people. They filmed it and broadcast it unabashedly. How can Binyamin Netanyahu trust them enough to negotiate with them? 

If you say "the Americans forced us," then why should we ever listen to such faux deceitful allies? As we used to hear in old cowboy and indian movies, "they speak with forked tongues." Besides that, as an independent country, Israel must do what's best for Israel and not allow other countries to boss us around. We owe nothing to America!!! 

Check your history, and you'll only find tricks. That includes the so call "aid," which is no more than "shopping coupons" to be used in American "stores" to shore up the American military industries and cripple the Israeli economy. 

Shabbat's approaching, and I must return to my chores and get these awful thoughts out of my head...

Israel Attacked by Hamas 2023/5784, War Musings #10, Paraphrasing Truman: The Buck Stops... Where?

I've been relatively polite about Bibi. 

Remember what Harry Truman said: 

"The buck stops here." 

It's clear that Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu, the man who broke all records as longest serving Israeli Prime Minister is very responsible for every failure. And he brought into his war cabinet others responsible, who made the decisions, policies the State of Israel is suffering from. 

Naïve people voted for him, Likud, thinking Bibi's on the patriotic Right, but he's not.

Photo of Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu I took many years ago at the 1st International Bloggers Conference

I'll say one more thing. Even though I don't vote Likud, for reasons I won't get into now though you can search my blog if you're curious, I'm a member of the party and vote in its primaries. Gd willing there will be elections for a new #1, replacement for Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu after we win this war. There are quite a number a talented potential Prime Ministers waiting in the wings. I hope that only one runs against Netanyahu, or even better that he officially retire.

In the meantime I pray that Gd will give our prime minister the wisdom and moral strength to lead us to victory. That is the most important thing right now!

Israel Attacked by Hamas 2023/5784, War Musings #9 Iron Dome Misused, Misconceptions Abound

Here's the text of a Letter to the Editor I wrote to the Jerusalem Post. It's not in today's paper, and I have no idea if they'll publish it later in the week, and if so how much they'll edit out.

Sky Guardians: The Iron Dome's month of miracle defenses - opinion

I was horrified to see Tiran Goldstein-Tweg's featured opinion piece promoting the Iron Dome for the Nobel Peace Prize. Only our enemies could support such an absurdity. 

We're now into month two of the most difficult and dangerous war in Israel's history because of a "conceptzia" meaning misconception due to the misuse of the Iron Dome. 

The Iron Dome should have been used as a first line of defense to protect Israeli citizens while our military fights to destroy our enemies and their military/rocket infrastructure. Instead, the IDF got very lazy and overconfident, yes-- deja vu post 1967 Six Days War. Our military "experts" sic somehow got into the mindset that they could count on the enemy, Hamas plus, to use up their allegedly limited sic rocket supplies while the Iron Dome caught and destroyed the rockets aimed at Israel. 

Even if the Iron Dome was a lot more effective than it has been these past painful weeks, there's another problem, a fatal flaw. For some inexplicable reason the Israeli Government made a foolish agreement with the Americans. Crucial parts of the Iron Dome are produced in the United States. This has two extremely dangerous faults. 

One is that we have to beg the Americans to permit us to resupply, since they have veto power over selling us necessary parts. And we also had to give them our technology. 

Secondly, but more problematic is the fact that by "sharing production" with the Americans, we strengthen their economy while weakening ours, especially the military industry. We can't even sell our own inventions, if they have even the smallest part from the USA, without American permission. 

It's time Israel becomes a truly independent country. Our great victory in 1967 was because we had no human allies, only the Jewish People and Gd Almighty. I remember that war very well. Gd willing our governmental leaders will realize their misconceptions and fight to win and not listen to foreigners who don't care what happens to us. 

Batya Medad, Shiloh

Parshat Shavua Chayei Sara