American Left Defends Anti-Israel BDS as "Free Speech"

LEFT WING PUSHES BACK AGAINST LAST-MINUTE EFFORT TO PASS ANTI-BDS BILL

While Democratic leadership supports the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which targets US companies that join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Jewish state, two powerful senators in Democratic politics expressed their opposition to its passage on Wednesday....

Among the senators claiming that BDS should be protected as "Free Speech" are Jews, and no surprise that the extreme Leftist J Street also opposes the bill.

American Jewry on the whole are extreme in their unquestioning support of the Democrats and the Left. I don't think there's an actual Mitzvah, Torah Commandment they observe more than voting for Democrats.

Even today, when the 21st century Democratic Party has adopted policies that support the destruction/annihilation of the State of Israel, Jewish Americans have continued their unquestioning support.

It's no secret that most American Jews eat the Torah-forbidden ham and shrimp, besides not having a clue that there's a fast day mid summer called the 9th of Av when we mourn the destruction of our Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Intermarriage has passed the tipping point, and it is now the norm, except in the most Torah observant circles. It is also rationalized/justified with Leftist slogans of "equality" and "free speech."

American Jewry has become so pro-Left Democrat that many actually oppose the American Embassy in Jerusalem, davka, because it was opened by a Republican President. That's the proof that they have ceased to think as Jews; they are now religiously Leftist Democrats.

I'm saddened by this development. And I'm pessimistic. The future of the Jewish People is here in Israel, no place else. Europe and other parts of the world are no better for Jews to remain true Jews.

Here I am marching in the 1970 Salute to Israel Parade with NCSY, just a couple of months before making aliyah, moving to Israel. It was the best move we could ever have made, B"H, thank Gd.

Taste of Moshiach, Eating on 9th of Av

Tisha b'Av, the 9th day of the Jewish Month of Av is commemorated as the saddest and longest day of the year. It's one of the two 25 hour fasts, along with Yom Kippur. But unlike Yom Kippur it's a day of mourning, and the mourning customs continue until the following afternoon. Even the meal that breaks the fast has to be restricted to non-festive foods.

Unlike Yom Kippur, Tisha b'Av will not be a fast day forever. When the Moshiach rules and our Holy Temple is rebuilt, the 9th of Av will become a festive holiday. We pray that will be soon. It's even customary that announcement for Tisha b'Av events to be preceded with "If the Moshiach hasn't yet come..."

The meals that "bookend" Yom Kippur are festive meals, traditionally a rich chicken soup followed by meat and festive dishes, but for 9th of Av it's the opposite. The traditional prefast meal before Tisha b'Av is that of a mourner. No meat or poultry and the "Dessert" is boiled eggs rolled in ash. But not this year!

This year we ate meat and poultry and drank wine on Tisha b'Av. Many Torah observant Jews even had festive meals before the fast began. That's because this year the actual 9th of Av was on Shabbat, and we don't mourn on Shabbat. It's forbidden. The only special pre-Tisha b'Av change to Shabbat was that we were required to finish eating our festive third Shabbat meal before the sun began to set.

Gd willing next year, 5779, there will be no Fast of Tisha b'Av, neither the 9th of Av nor the 10th. Those days will be joyous holidays, and the Holy Temple will be standing, and Jews won't be forced to undergo demeaning inspections to go up to the Temple Mount.

Gd willing Tisha b'Av next year, 5779, there will be festive Jewish Prayer in the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount!

My husband, Yisrael Medad, waiting to enter the Temple Mount today

9th of Av Warning

I just posted a very positive optimistic blog post about the 9th of Av on A Jewish Grandmother,  Only in Israel, 9th of Av. It's on a day like today, when I have two very contradictory messages to post that I'm very happy to have a number of blogs.

The three week period of mourning leading to the 9th of Av and the fasting we do on that day are to remind us that our Land was invaded and Holy Temples destroyed.

Here we are over two thousand years later, and thank the Good Lord we are in a Jewish State. OK, true we do have enemies who unabashedly proclaim their plans to destroy us. As the world stands silently by, rather déjà vu, we have managed to miraculously defeat them time again.

There are even Jews who consider the status quo to be sufficiently good to mandate the cancellation of the fasting and mourning. I would certainly not go that far. I think that observing the fasting and mourning from the 17th of Tammuz to the 9-10th of Av as a still very necessary warning.

The commemoration of the tragedies to to make us remember, a reminder that even a Holy Temple built of heavy stone as grand as the one Herod built can be destroyed. Just read the Torah portion and Haftara our sages chose for the 9th of Av:

Complete Tisha B'Av Service, ArtScroll 

Dvarim 4:25When you beget children and children's children, and you will be long established in the land, and you become corrupt and make a graven image, the likeness of anything, and do evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, to provoke Him to anger,		דברים ד, כהכִּי תוֹלִיד בָּנִים וּבְנֵי בָנִים וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם בָּאָרֶץ וְהִשְׁחַתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כֹּל וַעֲשִׂיתֶם הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְהַכְעִיסוֹ:
26I call as witness against you this very day the heaven and the earth, that you will speedily and utterly perish from the land to which you cross the Jordan, to possess; you will not prolong your days upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.		כוהַעִידֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ כִּי אָבֹד תֹּאבֵדוּן מַהֵר מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ לֹא תַאֲרִיכֻן יָמִים עָלֶיהָ כִּי הִשָּׁמֵד תִּשָּׁמֵדוּן:
27And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will remain few in number among the nations to where the Lord will lead you.		כזוְהֵפִיץ יְהֹוָה אֶתְכֶם בָּעַמִּים וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם מְתֵי מִסְפָּר בַּגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר יְנַהֵג יְהֹוָה אֶתְכֶם שָׁמָּה:

Complete Tisha B'Av Service, ArtScroll 

I think that the true, the real lesson of the 9th of Av is only effective if we take it as a warning. We shouldn't think that because we have a Jewish State today, which is one of the most successful countries in the world, that we will all live happily ever after. Life isn't that simple.

Our Kingdom was invaded, the Temples destroyed and we were exiled twice before.

The State of Israel is a good start, but we are still far from Redemption, far from the Messianic Era. We, the Jewish People, still suffer terrible internal strife. Although there are good Jews preparing for Kohen, Priestly, Worship at the Holy Temple, we have not yet begun building the Third Temple. We do have prayers in the Hebron Cave of the Patriarchs, but there is not yet Jewish Prayer on the Temple Mount.

The State of Israel still refuses to be sovereign on not only the Temple Mount but the entire Land of Israel.

We have such a long way to go unfortunately. I do see progress. There was a time, not all that long ago, when you couldn't even hear anyone mentioning the subjects. But still we must hurry before Gd loses patience with us and decides that we are to be exiled yet again.

Next year, Gd willing, may there be feasts, not fasts on the 9th of Av. Gd willing with full Jewish Sovereignty the Third Temple will appear as the building commences, like the Red Sea parted when Nachshon stepped in.

It's up to us!

Bibi and Likud Right? No, Wrong!

I'd say double wrong.

• Wrong #1 is to label the Likud and Prime Minister Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu as promoting Right wing policies.
• Wrong #2 are their policies.

At times, like when campaigning or for the right media effect, they talk the talk. But push comes to shove, once the cameras are down and it comes to real policy, not theoretical, they don't walk the walk. In old cowboy and indian movies, they'd be described as having "forked tongues."

Reverend Fun - Untrustable Snakes

After just too many years of Likud-led coalition, I'd say that all the Likud MKs and ministers are the same. None have quit in disgust; their obvious ambition overrides their supposed principles. Coalition partner Yvette-Avigdor Lieberman may try to give the impression of being a tough fighter, but the only thing he really fights for is his own personal power. Some of his policy statements/proposals are even worse than Bibi's. 

Unfortunately, the Jewish Home, formerly NRP, is proving itself more Yosef Burg, than the principled patriotic pro-Jewish Rights and Sovereignty in the Land of Israel that most of its voters had been hoping for.

The wily Bibi Netanyahu made his coalition partners sign a contract that was more reminiscent of Dorian Gray than what their voters had voted for. 

The backtracking on security cameras for Arab Muslims is embarrassingly outrageous. Simple logic, where's the common sense? The previous policy which policed and inspected everyone but Arab Muslims entering and wandering around the Temple Mount was inexcusable. I'm sure that all of the police and soldiers and their loved ones stationed  on the Temple Mount were relieved once those metal detectors were in use. But within a couple of days, Bibi folded, melted showed the world and the Arab terrorists that he does not care about the security of the State of Israel. Each time something like this has happened, many of us expect, or pray, that the coalition will break up and that we'll see politicians with principles. 

I guess that "politicians with principles" is an oxymoron. 

What a way to enter Tisha b'Av...

• Gd willing, there will be a miracle, and we'll finally have a true, reliable Jewish Leader who fears nobody but Gd Almighty. 
• Gd willing, there will be a miracle, and we'll finally have a leader who will impose fully Israeli Sovereignty over the Entire Land of Israel. 

That is the only way we will achieve PEACE.

Tzom Kal

An Easy and Effective Fast

9th of Av Yet Again

9th of Av Yet Again is also cross-posted on Israel Blogger.

9th of Av

In another two days is the Fast of the 9th of Av, when we must endure a 25 hour fast* to commemorate/remember the invasion/conquering of Jerusalem and destruction of both our Holy Temples. This is the saddest most tragic time in the Jewish Calendar. In the heat of the summer, we
are commanded to remember.

This past year, especially the past couple of weeks, it's much too easy to see how the increased violence and dangers are caused by our sins. Yes, remember that we're all in this "boat"together. We can't say:

"I'm perfect. He's the one who got us into trouble."

Yom Kippur

In another two months it will be Yom Kippur, and on Yom Kippur we also fast 25 hours and we list "our sins" to Gd begging forgiveness. The Yom Kippur Prayers are written in plural. It is forbidden to edit the text with the excuse:

"I didn't do that."

We are One Jewish People, One Family. We have to care for and take responsibility for each other. The internal sin, which weakened us and caused our defeat and the destruction of the Jewish Kingdoms and Holy Temples came from within us.

Déjà vu

Déjà vu. It's happening yet again. We have a government that runs to foreign leaders for "advice" and "aid" rather than doing what is best for the Jewish People and State of Israel. Our government treats foreign values as gods instead of obeying the One and Only Gd Almighty. Our government worries about world opinion instead of what's best for us.

Our Israeli Government does not act as a sovereign power.

We ordinary citizens feel hopeless and powerless. We have not united to do what we know is best.

Our Israeli Government is destroying Jewish homes while permitting our enemies to build and grow stronger. It feels like the 9th of Av all the time.

I dread checking the news.

Elul, Teshuva, Repentance 

It's hard to keep in mind that there is a way out of this dangerous mess. We don't have to wait for the Month of Elul to repent. Teshuva, Repentance is accepted by Gd all year long.

• If we hurry and build homes and communities for Jews all over the Land of Israel...
• If we execute all Arab terrorists instead of offering them trials and prison services...
• If we ascend the Temple Mount with prayers and building materials...

THEN THIS TUESDAY ON THE 9TH OF AV WE WILL CELEBRATE THE MOSHIACH AND DEDICATE THE THIRD HOLY TEMPLE, SPEEDILY IN OUR DAYS, GD WILLING!

*Those with certain medical issues/conditions are supposed to drink, even eat. Fasting is only for those healthy enough and not taking even temporary medications. Check with both doctor and qualified rabbi, who understands the medical aspects.

Tisha (9th of) B'Av, News,Kinot and Eicha, Lamentations all Blend into One

It's the Eve of the 9th of Av, Tisha B'Av, the culmination of three weeks of mourning for terrible tragedies that have happened to the People of Israel over the millennium on the same dates according to the Jewish Calendar.

I find that listening to the news and reading Eicha, Lamentations and Kinot all sound the same. There's a war going on here in Israel. I'm not quite sure that the name the government public relations department came out with is relevant today. First they called it an "operation," envisioning a short security "procedure," not some long dragged out war of attrition with dozens and dozens of dead IDF soldiers and the revelation to the country and world that the supposedly primitive Gazan Hamas Arab terrorists had built a very sophisticated maze-like network of tunnels leading from Gaza to various Jewish communities in the south.

Now there are reports that the government is trying to lure back residents who had fled by offering them more fortification and the stationing of elite IDF troops close by.

The government just doesn't get it. Israelis are sick and tired of this cycle of wars and ceasefires. We want to do the job and destroy our enemies to the point of surrender. Instead the government is strengthening the terrorists by giving them chances to reload. Even worse, we are feeding them and giving them medical supplies. I wish this was a joke. But remember that on Tisha b'Av, we must be serious, mourn and study the tragedies that have befallen us.

The Government Press Office (GPO), today (Monday, 4 August 2014), held a foreign press tour, for two dozen media crews, of Kerem Shalom Crossing, where hundreds of trucks laden with food, medicines and fuel enter the Gaza Strip as humanitarian aid.

In the last 24 hours, many such trucks have entered the Gaza Strip. The Israel Electric Corp. has joined the effort and today delivered ten generators to UNRWA.

The deputy head of security at the crossing, Yair Ben Or, briefed the journalists and explained the daily routine at the crossing: "The crossing has operated continuously throughout Operation Protective Edge. Our employees have worked under daily mortar fire in order to provide necessary equipment to the Gaza Strip. Most of the supplies are medicines, bedding, clothing, agricultural produce and medical equipment."

It's obvious that we have lost our moral compass. As Jews the arrow is supposed to point to G-d and the Torah. We aren't supposed to make helping our enemies and trying to impress antisemites, foreign leaders etc. We are supposed to have ourselves, our country as numero uno, number one priority. If not, we will lose the Land, G-d forbid. That is the reason we are required to read these depressing texts on this day, while our stomachs are protesting that they want more...

We are reminded that the rich can lose it all if that is what G-d wants. Eicha איכה Lamentations Chapter 1:

ג  גָּלְתָה יְהוּדָה מֵעֹנִי, וּמֵרֹב עֲבֹדָה--הִיא יָשְׁבָה בַגּוֹיִם, לֹא מָצְאָה מָנוֹחַ; כָּל-רֹדְפֶיהָ הִשִּׂיגוּהָ, בֵּין הַמְּצָרִים.  {ס}	3 Judah is gone into exile because of affliction, and because of great servitude; she dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest; all her pursuers overtook her within the straits. {S}
ד  דַּרְכֵי צִיּוֹן אֲבֵלוֹת, מִבְּלִי בָּאֵי מוֹעֵד--כָּל-שְׁעָרֶיהָ שׁוֹמֵמִין, כֹּהֲנֶיהָ נֶאֱנָחִים; בְּתוּלֹתֶיהָ נּוּגוֹת, וְהִיא מַר-לָהּ.  {ס}	4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly; all her gates are desolate, her priests sigh; her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness. {S}
ה  הָיוּ צָרֶיהָ לְרֹאשׁ אֹיְבֶיהָ שָׁלוּ, כִּי-יְהוָה הוֹגָהּ עַל רֹב-פְּשָׁעֶיהָ; עוֹלָלֶיהָ הָלְכוּ שְׁבִי, לִפְנֵי-צָר.  {ס}	5 Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies are at ease; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary. {S}
ו  וַיֵּצֵא מן בת- (מִבַּת-) צִיּוֹן, כָּל-הֲדָרָהּ; הָיוּ שָׂרֶיהָ, כְּאַיָּלִים לֹא-מָצְאוּ מִרְעֶה, וַיֵּלְכוּ בְלֹא-כֹחַ, לִפְנֵי רוֹדֵף.  {ס}	6 And gone is from the daughter of Zion all her splendour; her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer. {S}
ז  זָכְרָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם, יְמֵי עָנְיָהּ וּמְרוּדֶיהָ--כֹּל מַחֲמֻדֶיהָ, אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ מִימֵי קֶדֶם; בִּנְפֹל עַמָּהּ בְּיַד-צָר, וְאֵין עוֹזֵר לָהּ--רָאוּהָ צָרִים, שָׂחֲקוּ עַל מִשְׁבַּתֶּהָ.  {ס}	7 Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and of her anguish all her treasures that she had from the days of old; now that her people fall by the hand of the adversary, and none doth help her, the adversaries have seen her, they have mocked at her desolations. {S}

Tisha B'Av and The Battling Forces

I must admit that while reading the Tisha B'Av Kinot at home I dozed off.  I felt the good and evil battling away.  The proscribed readings, Eicha and Kinot, for this day of national mourning for the end of our ancient Jewish Kingdoms in the Land of Israel are very depressing and much too close to home.

Lamentations Chapter 2 אֵיכָה

ז  זָנַח אֲדֹנָי מִזְבְּחוֹ, נִאֵר מִקְדָּשׁוֹ--הִסְגִּיר בְּיַד-אוֹיֵב, חוֹמֹת אַרְמְנוֹתֶיהָ; קוֹל נָתְנוּ בְּבֵית-יְהוָה, כְּיוֹם מוֹעֵד.  {ס}	7 The Lord hath cast off His altar, He hath abhorred His sanctuary, He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn assembly. {S}
ח  חָשַׁב יְהוָה לְהַשְׁחִית, חוֹמַת בַּת-צִיּוֹן--נָטָה קָו, לֹא-הֵשִׁיב יָדוֹ מִבַּלֵּעַ; וַיַּאֲבֶל-חֵל וְחוֹמָה, יַחְדָּו אֻמְלָלוּ.  {ס}	8 The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He hath stretched out the line, He hath not withdrawn His hand from destroying; but He hath made the rampart and wall to mourn, they languish together. {S}
ט  טָבְעוּ בָאָרֶץ שְׁעָרֶיהָ, אִבַּד וְשִׁבַּר בְּרִיחֶיהָ; מַלְכָּהּ וְשָׂרֶיהָ בַגּוֹיִם, אֵין תּוֹרָה--גַּם-נְבִיאֶיהָ, לֹא-מָצְאוּ חָזוֹן מֵיְהוָה.  {ס}	9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; He hath destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations, instruction is no more; yea, her prophets find no vision from the LORD. {S}
י  יֵשְׁבוּ לָאָרֶץ יִדְּמוּ, זִקְנֵי בַת-צִיּוֹן--הֶעֱלוּ עָפָר עַל-רֹאשָׁם, חָגְרוּ שַׂקִּים; הוֹרִידוּ לָאָרֶץ רֹאשָׁן, בְּתוּלֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם.  {ס}	10 They sit upon the ground, and keep silence, the elders of the daughter of Zion; they have cast up dust upon their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. {S}
יא  כָּלוּ בַדְּמָעוֹת עֵינַי, חֳמַרְמְרוּ מֵעַי--נִשְׁפַּךְ לָאָרֶץ כְּבֵדִי, עַל-שֶׁבֶר בַּת-עַמִּי:  בֵּעָטֵף עוֹלֵל וְיוֹנֵק, בִּרְחֹבוֹת קִרְיָה.  {ס}	11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, mine inwards burn, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the breach of the daughter of my people; because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the broad places of the city. {S}

I suggest listening to Shani Taragin's shiur Eicha, Sounds of Music.

The Jewish People, the same one that exists today, is a very ancient people. None of our long-ago national or cultural peers still exist.  Historians and theologians have written our obituary many times.  At least two other religions were invented to replace us, Christianity and Islam, and they are fighting us for our Land.  The Arabs, their international backers and even some Israelis are pushing for a so-called Palestinian State, G-d forbid, and the Vatican is making deals with the Israeli Government to take over our holy sites, like Mount Zion.

YERUSHALAYIM - Israel has secretly informed the pope and senior Vatican officials that it is ready to reach a deal according to which it will transfer sovereignty of Kever David on Har Tzion to the Vatican, along with six Christian sites around the country. In exchange, Israel will receive permission to nationalize land that is under Christian control on the shores of the Kinneret.
After heavy Christian pressure, which has been applied for the past 60 years, the government is caving in now, specifically under Prime Minister Netanyahu, and is deciding to approve agreements drafted by former deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon. He conducted ongoing secret negotiations with  the church, along with Bahij Mansour, the head of religion in the Diaspora division of the Foreign Ministry.

The forces of good and evil, Jewish rights/religion versus western secular are fighting.  In some ways it's subtle and in other ways it gets physically nasty. The Arabs generally are up front and honest about it.  They go for the physical kill, with rocks, rifles, bombs and rocket attacks.

Some of the victims of Arab terrorism: Top Left to Right: Koby Mandell, Yehuda Haim Shoham, Esther Ohana  Center: Yosef Ishran  Bottom Left to Right: Bachor Jean, Asher Palmer and his infant son Jonathan, Stf. Sgt. Benny Meisner

It's easy to read their lips. Other enemies are more subtle. Many claim friendship and love for us, but their advice will only cause our destruction. There are also our internal enemies, Jews, Israelis who frequently speak in the terminology of our sages, but with the wrong agenda.  They are like the false prophets of Biblical times. 

I've been studying the Bible for the past few years in Matan.  I'm in the six year program Al HaPerek, in which Na"Ch, Prophets and Writings have been divided up.  We study two chapters a week, and we are now studying Yechezkel, having already finished Joshua, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah and Jeremiah.

Today's politics in the State of Israel and modern Jewish History seems so similar to Biblical Times and I find that frightening.   We Jewish People are again battling.  Will G-d decide that we must be dispersed again, or will we progress to the building of the Third Holy Temple?  I'd like to say that it's all up to G-d, but I understand that it is really up to us.  G-d created us with free will, and we therefore have the power to bring the Moshiach, Redemption. 

We are not G-d's puppets; we are free-thinking people who must make the right decisions the right moves. G-d will help us if we do so. That's how we were victorious in our early wars against the Arab attackers, the 1948 War for Israeli Independence, the 1967 Six Days War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.  Our Salvation and our victories all come from G-d.  The message of Tisha B'Av is that if we pray to false G-ds, if we make deals with foreign leaders, if we give away our precious Land, G-d may very well decide that we're not the right generation for Redemption.  He may let us be destroyed the way He did in the past.

waiting

G-d willing we will be strong and do the right things, and G-d will forgive us for our sins. And G-d willing we will defeat those endangering us.  May G-d be merciful.  May we merit the building of the בית המקדשת Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple!

הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ יְהוָה אֵלֶיךָ ונשוב [וְנָשׁוּבָה] חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם.

Hashiveinu Hashem vinashu chadesh yameinu kikedem.

Bring us back to You, G-d, and we will return, renew our days as days of old.

Long Way From Cancelling Tisha B'Av Mourning

Today is the Eve of the Tisha B'Av Fast, the saddest day on the Jewish Calendar and the most difficult fast day, at least on the Northern Hemisphere.  To prepare for the fast, experts advise that we drink a lot of water all day long.  But shouldn't we also do everything in our power to facilitate the end of Tisha B'Av as a fast day, day of mourning?  It is said that when Tisha B'Av will no longer be a fast day, it will be a day of great festivities and joy.

Our sages tell us that the destruction of the Holy Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish People are punishments for sins bein adam vichareiro, between man and his fellow man.  The recipe, the method, way to have the fast and mourning on Tisha B'Av cancelled is to greatly increase chessed, generosity, good acts bein adam vichareiro, between man and his fellow man.

Unfortunately, we're terribly far from that time in history.  Not only don't we see all Jews united to fight for our rights as a Nation and People on our and governing/protecting our own Land, but there are Jews who claim to be Torah observant who actually attack other Jewish IDF soldiers. 

In the second assault of its kind in three weeks, police say several ultra-Orthodox youth attacked a haredi conscript Sunday night as he drove through a religious neighborhood in the capital.
According to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the attack took place in the Bukharan Quarter, where the unidentified victim’s car was converged upon by several religious youth who obstructed the vehicle, dragged him outside and proceeded to beat him.

There has been a perversion of Judaism in the name of the Torah which is very frightening.  All of our questions can be answered from the Torah including whether or not all Jews are required to fight together for our People and Land.

Numbers Chapter 32 בְּמִדְבַּר

ו  וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, לִבְנֵי-גָד וְלִבְנֵי רְאוּבֵן:  הַאַחֵיכֶם, יָבֹאוּ לַמִּלְחָמָה, וְאַתֶּם, תֵּשְׁבוּ פֹה.

6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: 'Shall your brethren go to the war, and shall ye sit here?

It's very clear.  G-d demands, commands that all Jews are required to unite to fight together for the Land and People.  It doesn't matter if they live in New Jersey, Paris, Montreal or Meah She'arim.  We are all responsible for each other's safety, security and future.

G-d gave us many, many mitzvoth, six hundred and thirteen 613.  Only G-d knows the "accounting rules," the weight of all for when He calculates our success and failures.  One thing we do know is that although it is possible to repent the sins in the bein adam liMakom, between man and G-d, it's much, much more difficult to properly repent those sins we did to other people.

So simply put it means that living a mehadrin, extra stringent Torah life would mean making our kind, generous actions towards other Jews as top priority and looking for the most stringently supervised kosher food would be less important.

Catriel Sugarman

It also means that every Jew must find ways to actively serve and support the IDF, which is the present method to protect the State of Israel, which protects Jewish rights and sovereignty in the Land of Israel.  Granted, the IDF and the State of Israel are not yet perfect, but they will only get more perfect, more Jewish if more truly Torah observant Jews become fully engaged, involved. Standing back and yelling "traif," (not kosher) will not improve things at all.

So, let us all take on something new to make things better, bring the Moshiach and turn Tisha B'Av into a day of joy and feasting.

The 17th of Tammuz, Fasting, The "Three Weeks" Have Begun

I wonder if Jews in the Southern Hemisphere have a better understanding of the Three Weeks.

The Three Weeks are bookended by two fast days, the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av. This time period corresponds with the Destruction of our (the Jewish) Holy Temples in Jerusalem.

It's summer here in Shiloh. Our local pool's schedule is geared to take Jewish Law as primary. During the Nine Days, when bathing for fun is forbidden, we can't use it for swimming. Only swimming lessons are allowed. Actually, one isn't supposed to start summer swimming in the week and a half between the 17th of Tammuz and the first of Av. If you've already gone swimming, you can continue, because it's "routine."

Kids who attend Jewish-Torah camps should get some idea of what's permitted during the three weeks and nine days, special programming for the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av. But those whose parents my not be a knowledgeable and aren't in a Torah framework, may not be aware.

So, back to my question. Do Jewish kids in Jewish schools in the southern hemisphere, where it's winter and they're in school, have a better knowledge of the laaws pertaining to the three weeks, nine days, 17th of Tammuz and 9th of Av?