Weekly Torah Portion, Ki Tisa, "Dumb Question"

Add this to my series of "dumb questions." I have a lot of questions about this Torah Portion and Biblical narrative. Did you ever think about these things?

For the longest time this has bothered me. Until quite recently, time was pretty general-inexact, and since there was no way to communicate with people on the go, we didn't get all that surprised when someone was late. And it's only in the recent century or two that pretty much everyone had a watch with them, and each house one accurate clock or more.

Of course today's world is so very timed and controlled. But we all know that even a few years ago, when a family member or friend traveled, like when my son did his after the army trek in South America, days and even weeks could go by without any communications. We had to just pray and trust that all was well, or we'd go insane. All sorts of normal, benign, conditions could cause delays in even the most planned contact schedules, arrivals etc.

That's why I could never understand why/how, during an era when the hour was judged/measured by the length and angle of shadows, and there was absolutely no way to communicate further than a shout or "smoke-signal" away, the recently escaped from slavery Children of Israel, nascent Jewish Nation, could so quickly freak-out, panic, lose faith that their leader Moshe would safely return.

Exodus Chapter 31

1When the people saw that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: "Come on! Make us gods that will go before us, because this man Moses, who brought us up from the land of Egypt we don't know what has become of him."

אוַיַּרְא הָעָם כִּי בשֵׁשׁ משֶׁה לָרֶדֶת מִן הָהָר וַיִּקָּהֵל הָעָם עַל אַהֲרֹן וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו קוּם | עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ כִּי זֶה | משֶׁה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֹא יָדַעְנוּ מֶה הָיָה לוֹ:

There had to have been something insidiously planned by trouble-makers to rally the people so quickly against Gd, Moshe and Aaron. 

Considering the massive number of people and how long it would take, if it had truly been spontaneous, for this rebellion to reach a pinnacle of action. Being logical, it would have taken a few days to get organized, collect the gold, melt it down and form a "calf."

picture credit

And how long would it take for this "golden calf" to harden and be ready for display?

The Biblical account is very dramatic, telling of how Moses in great anger broke the tablets Gd had prepared for the Jewish People when he saw them worshipping the golden figure.

From the text, Moses came down just hours or at most a day after the people had panicked, so how could they have so very quickly produced an idol to worship?

It doesn't make sense to me. Does anyone have some answers?

Dumb Question Re: Elor Azaria Case

nydailynews.com

Besides all of the issues that everyone, including yours truly, have written about numerous times, there's something that keeps bothering me.

IncidentSite of the shooting, several months before the incident

On 24 March 2016, two Palestinian assailants stabbed an Israeli soldier and moderately wounded him in Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron. Both assailants were shot and seriously wounded by Israeli soldiers.^[3] One of the assailants soon died. His companion, Abed al Fatah al-Sharif, lying incapacitated on the road, was shot in the head and killed by Elor Azaria, an IDF medic serving in Shimshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade.^[4][5] A video published by B'tselem, showing an IDF soldier approaching the supine al-Sharif and shooting him in the head from less than two metres,^[6] went viral on Israeli social media, sparking controversy.^[7] Wikipedia 

How/Why was B'tselem there on the spot?

Yes, it's another of my dumb questions.

I can think of only one reasonable, rational answer to the question of:

How could that photographer been ready at the draw to photograph everything so quickly if he hadn't been involved in the planning and staging of the attack?

We all know that many Arab terrorist attacks in Israel are documented and "egged on" by the media and NGOs. Could this have been the case then, too? And if so, why hasn't this possible involvement been properly investigated by Israeli authorities?

As I'd written in my earlier posts about the attack, I find it worse than suspicious that B'tselem immediately shared silenced videos which were meant to distort the reality of the scene and make Elor  Azaria look much more violent and guilty than he was.

You Don't Have To Be A Graphologist to See That Israeli Youth Didn't Burn Arab Home in Duma

Just look at these two pictures.

Duma, Haaretz

Times of Israel

When Jewish youth were blamed for the Duma arson because of the "Tag Machir," "Price Tag," תג מחיר style graffiti, I immediately said that I know of no Israeli kid with handwriting like that. The Israeli education system produces graduates with horrendous handwriting, more in the style you see in the lower photo.

Consider this another of my "dumb questions." What do you think?

Was Elor Azaria Setup?

Although the legal/moral/political/philosophical debate about when and if to shoot Arab terrorists is a very old one, even predating our move to Shiloh in 1981, the sacrifice to 21st Century Political Correctness of Elor Azaria has modernized the controversy.

Elor Azariya, Arutz 7

The well-planned public outcry from the Left was spurred on by the convenient/coincidental or had it been pre-planned video of the scene by the extreme Left anti-occupation sic of B’Tselem.

The left-wing foreign-funded NGO B’Tselem, which holds its own government responsible for terrorism against Israelis — on the grounds that Palestinian violence is an expression of justified frustration at their plight as an “occupied” people — was on the scene filming the event. (Ruthie Blum, Algemeiner)

Considering the very simple arithmetic of 1 +1 = 2, I just can't ignore that crucial detail. Why wasn't B’Tselem prosecuted for complicity in that terror attack?

Consider that one of my "dumb questions."

And if B’Tselem had staged and planned it, then the suspicious heavy unseasonable clothes, which are supposed to be one of the signs of a suspected terrorist, were also part of the planned scene/act/terror attack. This entire case, situation travesty of justice and morality can be traced back to B’Tselem, no doubt at all. And the IDF and government leaders were the patsies the fools who fell for it. We all know that the so-called justice system here in Israel is so far to the Left, that they didn't need the distorted silent video to convince them.

Yes, Elor Azaria was thrown under the bus and made to pay for a crime he didn't commit.

Fallout from the Azaria trial was that there were IDF soldiers who fled yesterday's fatal Arab terror attack afraid to shoot the terrorist...

Release Meir Ettinger!

It's getting beyond ridiculous that the esteemed and experienced and professional Israeli Police after over six months haven't been able to prove any real connection between Meir Ettinger and the Duma fire, but they refuse to admit defeat and have been holding him in jail.

Meir Ettinger at a hearing

Ammar Awad/Reuters

Ettinger was placed on administrative detention more than seven months ago. The initial order, signed by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) was only for six months. About a month and a half ago, Ya'alon order it to be extended for an additional four months. (Arutz 7)

Now the young man, instead of being around to enjoy the birth of his first child and help his wife and live like a normal person is still jailed with bare minimum conditions, almost incommunicado. Meir Ettinger and his family are begging the authorities to release him for a few hours to attend the Brit Milah, circumcision of his firstborn son.

Could the real reason he is suspected and being held regardless of the fact that no court-kosher proof seems to exist be the fact that he is the grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahana? Now I was never a fan nor follower of Kahana, but I never liked the way he was treated here by those in power. And to be honest I don't like the fact that his grandson is being punished for the fact that the Israeli government, police, politicians etc seem to believe/fear there is some great mystic power in the name and genes...

In All Honesty...

To be perfectly honest, I just don't believe that the security forces have any proof that the Jewish suspects that have been tortured and are still being tortured to extract confessions are guilty of burning that house in Duma. And I will not believe it until and unless I see real proof. I'm disgusted that so many people including rabbis support Shabak and take for granted that the boys are guilty.

There is one very simple test that can prove it. Check handwriting, including spray-painting and see if  any of them write in such a distinctive way. Today at the Shabbat women's class I've been participating in every week (for the past 34 years,) if they know of any young Jewish men who have handwriting like this or of any school that trains the students to form letters like this.

Graffiti reading 'revenge' found at the scene of the arson terror attack in Duma, July 31, 2015.AP read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.675422

Total silence greeted my question. Our group consists mostly of grandmothers and even a great-grandmother. We all know how boys of that generation write. So, why do the Shabak keep torturing the boys instead of simply checking their handwriting, especially with spraypoint which is much more difficult to control?

Climate Panic Farce vs Evolution

I guess you can add this post to my "dumb question" series...

Those around the world who consider themselves among the elite, enlightened fervently believe in Evolution and mock those who take Gd's power and Creation seriously.

So, my question is:

If you believe in Evolution, why should you want it to stop now? What is the problem with "Endangered Species" and "Climate Change?" Aren't they ongoing proof of Evolution?

Nu, am I crazy or not?

Evolution:
any process of formation or growth; development:the evolution of a language; the evolution of theairplane.2.a product of such development; somethingevolved :The exploration of space is the evolution ofdecades of research.3.Biology. change in the gene pool of a populationfrom generation to generation by such processesas mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift.4.a process of gradual, peaceful, progressive changeor development, as in social or economic structureor institutions.5.a motion incomplete in itself, but combining withcoordinated motions to produce a single action, asin a machine.6.a pattern formed by or as if by a series ofmovements:the evolutions of a figure skater.7.an evolving or giving off of gas, heat, etc.

Evolution means ongoing change, so why get all hot and bothered about climate change? Why make a big international convention and new unenforceable rules?

From L-R, Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius, President-designate of COP21 and French President Francois Hollande applaud during the final plenary session at the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget, near Paris, France, December 12, 2015. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe Read more at Reuters http://www.reuters.com/news/picture/with-landmark-climate-accord-world-marks?articleId=USKBN0TV04L20151213#JVfwlQ10RcAXHr0y.99

Obama calls Paris climate pact 'best chance to save the one planet we've got' 

"Today the American people can be proud because this historic agreement is a tribute to American leadership. Over the past seven years, we've transformed the United States into the global leader in fighting climate change," Obama said.
He said the accord shows what is possible when the world stands as one, adding: "This agreement represents the best chance we have to save the one planet that we've got." (Jerusalem Post)

Am I the only one who thinks they're all nuts?

Dumb Questions: 1- Americans Killing Innocent Civilian Iraqis? 2- Anti-Democratic to Ban Hamas in Gaza? 3- What Ceasefire if Hamas Attacking Israel?

Here's some food for thought aka my "dumb questions:"

1- Americans Killing Innocent Civilian Iraqis? 
I can't wait to see how the Americans will "pinpoint" their attacks to prevent the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians.

The US has prepared "targeted" strikes against ISIS as it bears down on the city, should its convoys advance, the White House said.
ISIS now controls large swaths of the country's north and Syria's east, issuing license plates and collecting taxes from people under its domain. ISIS has called for the enslavement and genital mutilation of women, and the murder of all men who are not Sunni, and who will not convert.
At least 4 million women live in the region currently under ISIS control. (Jerusalem Post)

Of course, the easiest way is just to count differently.

Weapons and ammunition
 found by the IDF in the bedroom
of a Gaza home, July 2014.
(Image source: IDF)

It's a mystery why so many in the media accept as gospel Hamas-supplied figures on the number of civilians killed in the recent war. Hamas claims that of the more than 1800 Palestinians killed close to 90% were civilians. Israel, on the other hand, says that close to half of them were combatants. The objective facts support a number much closer to Israel's than to Hamas'.
Even human rights group antagonistic to Israel acknowledge, according to a New York Times report, that Hamas probably counts among the "civilians killed by Israel" the following groups: Palestinians killed by Hamas as collaborators; Palestinians killed through domestic violence; Palestinians killed by errant Hamas rockets or mortars; and Palestinians who died naturally during the conflict. I wonder if Hamas also included the reported 162 children who died while performing child slave labor in building their terror tunnels. Hamas also defines combatants to include only armed fighters who were killed while fighting Israelis. They exclude Hamas supporters who build tunnels, who allow their homes to be used to store and fire rockets, Hamas policemen, members of the Hamas political wing and others who work hand in hand with the armed terrorists. (Alan Dershowitz, Gatestone Institute)

2- Anti-Democratic to Ban Hamas in Gaza? 
Since Gazans did elect Hamas to rule them and democratically rejected Fatah then wouldn't it be "undemocratic" for outsiders to try to enforce a change?

Trying to push Fatah and Abbas on the Gazans is useless and undemocratic.

In contrast to Kerry’s previous adoption of all of Hamas’s demands as official US positions, Ignatius wrote that “Over the past week, [Kerry] has been crafting a cease-fire plan that seeks to stabilize Gaza under the leadership of Abbas and the moderate Palestinian Authority….[The PA] (with the support of the international community) would have overall responsibility for the rehabilitation of Gaza.” (Caroline Glick, read more...)

American ad campaign

And IMHO it's rather idiotic to think that the beach-side living Gazans, are as peaceful by nature and ideology as those of Florida or New Zealand. There's no way to "sweet-talk" Gazans out of their support of Hamas. Only if they see Israel as stronger than the Arab terrorist Hamas would they changer their tune. Israel's conduct in this war just strengthened the terrorists' hold on the people.

3- What Ceasefire if Hamas is Again Attacking Israel?
The honeymoon is over. No surprise that Hamas has already resumed firing potentially deadly rockets at Israel.

Cease-fire set to end within hours with no long-term solution in place; Hamas calls for Palestinian negotiators to leave Cairo talks.Hamas Photo: REUTERS

Two rockets have apparently landed in southern Israel after being fired from Gaza, the IDF reported on Friday morning.
The rockets violate the current cease-fire in place, which stands to expire at 8:00 a.m. Delegations negotiated in Cairo for a long-term solution throughout the night Thursday and into Friday morning. (Jerusalem Post)