tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post7135120978821944839..comments2024-03-27T16:27:03.093+02:00Comments on Shiloh Musings: Rabbi Riskin responds, and so do IBatyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402874037427009327noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-38738522108692145862008-04-12T18:14:00.000+03:002008-04-12T18:14:00.000+03:00And a few miscellaneous comments, being as I alway...And a few miscellaneous comments, being as I always have these:<BR/><BR/>The entire subject is critical, not only for itself, but as it relates to the future of Israel, our security situation, identity and ability to attract Jewish immigrants. My feelings before coming back have been reinforced in the relatively short time since I've come back (though my perceptions may be skewed by residence in the Roaming Dogs, Tattoed Human and General Licentiousness of the City by the Sea):<BR/><BR/>1) Israel is in a post-Zionist mood. This is not altogether bad, as the resultant shallowness may lighten the collective mood somewhat;<BR/><BR/>2) The government is deserved. People get the government they deserve, even if it's not democratic in a true sense. That is, if you lose democracy, you probably deserve that too;<BR/><BR/>3) The situation could be worse. People here generally seem to like the country, despite protestations to the contrary. In Amerika, you find many claims of deep love for the red, white and blue, and deep pessimism about the future. For all the casual cynicism of people here, I sense an underlying optimism;<BR/><BR/>4) Such optimism flies in the face of reality, yet pessimists like Benny Morris [having just read his profiling by Horovitz in the Post] are themselves 'typical' Israelis, Dennis the Menaces who don't really mean what they say, or clobber you with the bad news and then let you know that good news might be behind it.<BR/><BR/>I was interested to read, and comment on, the latest enlightened, cough, column, by Larry Derfner on the Post, about valiant Aharon Barak and his martyrdom. I am squarely with Friedmann, and believe in, G-d forbid, democracy, in which the 'rabble' actually speaks, decides and rules. Derfner's argument for the Rule of the Enlightened Elite conjures up memories of Kibbutz (Shomrat) and Hashomer Hatzair, from which I escaped once upon a time. <BR/><BR/>I am for the rule of the rabble, and for an end to this sickening Jewish-Jewish racism by which Sephardim (whose blood I partly share) and religious people are not to be entrusted with actual participation. I don't have to get as gloomy as Tamar Yonah in her New World Order blogs to be equally disgusted by the mottos and 'morality' of the President and his absurd instructions to Israel's young. The first thing I will do, on being elected President, is to order removal of a lot of tattoos and put the Tel Aviv dogs, especially the mastiffs and Dobermans, on leashes.<BR/><BR/>Larry<BR/>rianun04@yahoo.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-77046062362779050802008-04-11T14:55:00.000+03:002008-04-11T14:55:00.000+03:00Thanks, Ellen.What a crazy country, though. Now th...Thanks, Ellen.<BR/><BR/>What a crazy country, though. Now they tell me in Ma'ariv that Olmert and Barak plan a 'rotatzia' to stay in power and block the Likud. Maybe I'll visit my cousins in Emek Hahuleh soon and go up to the Golan. Let me know if you have an extra sleeping bag for a night. Lord knows Tel Aviv is not really Israel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-35024406296151800722008-04-11T14:26:00.000+03:002008-04-11T14:26:00.000+03:00Welcome home, Larry!We need people like you.Shabba...Welcome home, Larry!<BR/>We need people like you.<BR/><BR/>Shabbat Shalom and <BR/>Chag Sameach!ellenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08676240561722835708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-78708629238134739252008-04-11T07:50:00.000+03:002008-04-11T07:50:00.000+03:00Hi back Ellen,Yes, those were the days. We all wen...Hi back Ellen,<BR/><BR/>Yes, those were the days. We all went off in different directions. <BR/><BR/>Anyways, I made it back to Israel in the end. I hope your sons are well, in every sense of the word.<BR/><BR/>Chag Sameach (also to Batya and family).<BR/><BR/>LarryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-37395061138637599712008-04-10T17:36:00.000+03:002008-04-10T17:36:00.000+03:00Ellen, I think that I may love you. ;)We are in te...Ellen, I think that I may love you. ;)<BR/><BR/>We are in terrible danger from Christian missionaries. We have brought this problem upon ourselves as so many are completely ignorant of Judaism. We have brought them into our homes and communities and now we are suffering. My blog is infested with them!Avihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06156322358503174356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-81706269306472761032008-04-10T16:07:00.000+03:002008-04-10T16:07:00.000+03:00Hi Larry!It's been a very long time. we used to h...Hi Larry!<BR/>It's been a very long time. we used to have some great email exchanges! <BR/><BR/>Thanks for you thoughtful and intelligent comments. I like your direction, and I plan to continue to address this issue in a very big way.<BR/><BR/>But the world situation is gonna have to wait until I clean my house for Pesach! (the Jews are a very weird people) But I'm sure my evangelical friends are pleased that Ellen will be giving them a reprieve, while I clean my freezer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-79351172537926080722008-04-10T16:00:00.000+03:002008-04-10T16:00:00.000+03:00Thanks so much, Batya.I appreciate you giving me a...Thanks so much, Batya.<BR/>I appreciate you giving me an opportunity to post on this forum.<BR/><BR/>And thanks for repeatedly and patiently walking me through the how-to-blog steps.<BR/><BR/>I hope to meet with Rabbi Riskin soon over this issue, so I most likely will refrain from blogging on his involvement in the evangelical world until after we meet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-76978577988517390272008-04-10T14:15:00.000+03:002008-04-10T14:15:00.000+03:00Correction, the Admin does not say 'It's a war wit...Correction, the Admin does not say 'It's a war with Islam', of course. They make it a war with a fringe sect within Islam; it just so happens that this is the sect that, according to them, is responsible for 911 and a host of other ghoulish events.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-58637176803669795512008-04-10T14:12:00.000+03:002008-04-10T14:12:00.000+03:00I substantially agree with Ellen. Jews are feeling...I substantially agree with Ellen. Jews are feeling very threatened - in a sixty-years-ago sort of way - and are reaching out to 'any friends we might have.' Actually, those friends and 'friends' are reaching out to us more, as they sense our vulnerability. <BR/><BR/>The US Admin and many pro-Israel people are happy to paint the current nightmarish situation - because it is that - as a straight-on religious war between Islam and everyone else. Jews feel that we are the #1 target for the Islamists (which is debatable), and feel overwhelmed. They see right-wing American Evangelicals and other Evangelicals state repeatedly that Christianity is the ultimate target. Many of these same people not only make bold statements on behalf of Israel, they clearly expect Israelis and Jews to concur.<BR/><BR/>Of course, much of this logic and chain of reasoning is/are based on accepting that 9/11 was just that, an announcement of Islam's renewed campaign to destroy 'the West', and Christianity and Judaism along with it. While many Jihadists are clearly motivated along such general lines, this ignores the long relationship between Western nations and Islamist groups. I'm talking primarily - but not only - about the US and Britain. Our 'friend' Brzezinski aimed to stir up Islamism, and enlisted the help of S Arabia and Pakistan to do so. He said so, as Ellen and others have quoted. There is evidence that 'a little Islamism would be good to help provoke and/or end the USSR'...<BR/><BR/>So the formation of al Qaeda as a kind of Saudi-Pakistani-American tool within the geopolitical context has to be considered. The relationship between Saudi Royals, so called, and the Bin Laden clan, and American 'royalty' can't be ignored, right down to the Bush family. And then you have the Balkans, where people like Jared Israel have done some astonishing research. A woman called Julia Gorin has written extensively about how the Western media demonized Serb nationalism, and ignored the many links between US/NATO policy and the Islamic forces in Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia.<BR/><BR/>So what is the war all about? It is going on on many levels. It seems to me that lack of Jewish/Israeli self-confidence, carelessness or ignorance in learning about events, and fear mingle to produce a kind of desperation along the lines of:<BR/><BR/>"You want to be our friends. Okay!!"<BR/><BR/>...followed by little examination of what that friendship means. So folks like Ellen are doing a very important service.<BR/><BR/>LarryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-57269163458098841172008-04-10T12:59:00.000+03:002008-04-10T12:59:00.000+03:00I am very proud that my Shiloh Musings is the inte...I am very proud that my Shiloh Musings is the internet forum for Ellen's excellent and important writing about the dangers of Christian missionaries and more.<BR/><BR/>I think it very naive of Rabbi Riskin to think <B>and write publically</B> that just because they wouldn't dare try to debate him about theology, they don't try it with less knowledgeable Jews.<BR/><BR/>Ellen, I wish to thank you for making us all aware of the dangers and not being afraid to post them.Batyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11246929075812590204noreply@blogger.com