Rosh Chodesh Av, Tel Shiloh

Next week is already Rosh Chodesh (the first of the Jewish Month of) Av.  I'll be occupied with a different "Av," kibbud av v'em, honoring father and mother, since I'm taking my father to join my mother in Arizona.  My mother decided that they'd be better off near my sister.


The women's prayers I've been organizing at Tel Shiloh each Rosh Chodesh aren't about me or for me.  Tel Shiloh, the location of the Mishkan, Holy Tabernacle, for 369 years is one of Judaism's holiest sites.  So, if you can make it, then, or any other time, please do.  There are tourist services available; contact telshilo@gmail.com

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh

Rosh Chodesh Av

תפילת נשים

ראש חודש אב בתל שילה

Monday, July 12, 9:30am

יום ב' 12-7 09:30

כולן מוזמנות

Everyone's Invited

Divide and Conquer or Fall Through the Cracks?

Last night I asked you what you thought Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would do when his ten month unilateral building freeze reached the magic date.  Most everyone thinks old Wily Bibi will play different YESHA communities against one another by permitting building in some places and continuing the freeze in others.

Simple divide and conquer.

There are Jewish residents areas of Judea and Samaria who like to think of themselves as in "safe," "consensus" areas superior to communities like my Shiloh, because we're not "in the fence," among other distinctions.  The only wonderful thing about Bibi's building freeze was that it lumped all of Judea and Samaria together.  Efrat and Ofra had to suffer the same draconian law, ditto for Maale Adumim and Maale Levona.

There's also a good chance that Bibi himself will fall through that crack.  That's because his compromise won't please those foreigners against us and Israel's Left, and at the same time whatever remaining support he had from the Right will leave him.

A true leader doesn't try these tightrope tricks.  A true leader takes a real stand.  A chameleon can't lead.  A chameleon hides away, blending into the background so his enemies can't find him.

Yisrael, Batach B'Hashem

People of Israel, Trust in G-d

Will Tying A Yellow Ribbon Bring Gilad Shalit Home?

LATMA sings about the Gilad Shalit "tie a yellow ribbon" campaign.  Subtitles in English.




As with all great political satire, there are some strong and critical points here.

Is Anyone Taking Bets?

Will he or won't he?

I'm pretty tired, so I'll leave this to you.  Vote by commenting.

Will Bibi extend the building freeze in Judea and Samaria, parts of Jerusalem, too?

Will Bibi extend the building freeze just in Judea and Samaria?
Will Bibi encourage building, giving orders to regional authorities to approve building permits ASAP?
Will Bibi claim to thaw the building freeze but send orders  to regional authorities to slowly approve building?

Please give your reasons, too.  Thanks

The HH Experiment

The Rebbitzen's Husband conducts a very successful experiment with the format of this week's Havel Havelim.  Take a look and tell him what you think.

Torah Judaism, Is It Enough to Be Spiritual Without Keeping The Laws?

There are those who say it's enough to be "spiritual" without keeping all those 613 mitzvot and various "amendments," halachot, customs etc.  This is an old debate.  Jesus claimed it was enough to be "spiritual in your heart," but true Torah Judaism is an active, kinesthetic and community experience.

I saw a post about this recently on another blog, and I commented that it's like doing "free-fall" from an airplane.  After one jumps, the first few seconds one enjoys the wind רוח ruach spirit, but then if you don't open your parachute, which makes an אוהל ohel tent structure, you're going to crash and die. 

For someone to convert to Torah (the genuine, unabridged) Judaism one must be part of a community.  Isolation and Judaism don't mix.

This Shabbat was very special.  I was able to pray in the synagogue, in my regular seat, since my daughter and her family were over, meaning that my father wouldn't be alone.  There are so many prayers I hadn't been able to say or hear for months, since they are only to be said in a minyan.  We are now, also, in the period of the "three weeks" when we're supposed to remember that our Holy Temple was destroyed.  Our prayer service is a modern substitute for the worship in the Holy Temple, so it's very fitting to be reminded of it, the epitome of Jewish ritual.

Without ritual, we lose our religion.  Judaism isn't just food.  Pesach, Passover is more than eating kneidelach and matzah.  Purim is not just a hamantache, and Chanukah can be Chanukah even if you don't eat a latke.  Something more, the foods mentioned are only the tradition of eastern-European Jews.  Ask a Jew from Morocco or Majorca about them and they won't know what you're talking about.  But Jews all over the world  fast twenty-five hours on Yom Kippur, read the Megillat Esther night and morning on Purim and circumcise their sons on the eight day after birth.

The rituals, Jewish Law and history make us a People.  It's not enough to feel the spirit.

Instead of the Mainstream Media

Even those of us who know who inaccurate and "colored" the mainstream media is read it.  Sometimes I use the New York Times as a springboard for a blog post, pointing out how ridiculous and inaccurate an article is.  When I'm looking for facts, it's the mainstream media which comes up on google.  There are some good sites to check out for a breath of fresh air.  One of my favorites is David Bedein's Behind the News.

There are some particularly interesting articles in the most recent edition and you can subscribe and get summaries in your email inbox.

Accused Russian Spy Makes Bail, While Pollard Rots in High Security Prison

One of my objections to the way the United States has punished Jonathan Pollard concerns precedence, who others are punished for espionage crimes.  I don't deny that he went against American law, but his punishment is out of proportion compared to others convicted of similar crimes.

Now there's news of a Russian spy ring that has been operation in the United States for a number of years.  This isn't one individual working alone, this is a much more complex operation, but somehow the media is trying to make it seem almost benign, like in this Newsweek article:

As we previously reported, charges issued so far against the alleged “illegal” long-term Russian penetration agents do not accuse them directly of espionage—stealing or attempting to steal U.S. intelligence or defense secrets. Instead, court documents portray them as talent spotters, alleging that they were assigned to identify and ingratiate themselves with influential Americans who had access to U.S. policymakers or government secrets, the idea being that those individuals could then be targeted for more aggressive recruitment by other Russian spies.

Another strange thing is that the New York Times is already downplaying it.  I subscribe to the daily headlines and the subject wasn't included.  I had to search the internet paper.




Maybe I'm just some dumb grandma, but I think the Russian spy ring is more dangerous to the security of the United States than one lone guy giving information to an ally.

"Paying The Price"

Here's the text of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's statement (click) concerning his capitulation to the demand that he release dangerous terrorists in exchange for Hamas held IDF solider Gilad Shalit.  Yes, I call it a capitulation, because even though Bibi knows very well that these terrorists are dangerous enemies he's still willing to free them from Israeli jails.

The Prime Minister has given in to media pressure and gone against his common sense and painful knowledge of history agreeing to release one thousand (1,000) very deadly, unrepentant Arab terrorists.  The verb, "to pay the price" is the crucial term here:

"The State of Israel has always been prepared to pay a heavy price for the release of its hostages."
"The German mediator's proposal that we decided to accept requires the release of 1,000 terrorists. This is a price that I am prepared to pay in order to bring Gilad home."
"However, there are prices that I am not prepared to pay that are not included in the proposed deal."
"The call to pay any price is a natural cry from the heart of any father, mother, grandfather, sister or brother."
"The State of Israel is prepared to pay a heavy price for the release of Gilad Shalit but is unable to say "at any price"."

I have no doubt that Netanyahu thought hard over every word and nuance when writing this statement.  I don't like the decision.  I think it's a mistake.  Remember that the terrorists haven't agreed to it.  They've, rather expectedly, raised their demands.

Last night on the TV news here in Israel, someone (whose name I didn't catch) criticized the government's offer saying he's "willing to pay any price" to get Gilad Shalit back home.  There are other Israeli Leftists saying the same.  I heartily suggest that they contact the Arab terrorists and offer them their names, addresses etc and of their spouse, children, family and close friends and tell them that they shouldn't bother attacking others, like my family and friends who aren't willing to "pay the price." 

Fair is fair, nu?  They're the ones who have been pushing the deal.  They should pay for it!

Why Wasn't This News "Fit to Print?"

Hat tip: Max


The American Thinker has a thought provoking article asking why praise of Israel wasn't publicized.

June 27, 2010
G-8 Leaders Send Love Note To Bibi -- But Where Are The Media?
Leo Rennert


The Group of Eight summit in Canada issued a communiqué on June 26 that is remarkably favorable and supportive of Israel's stance on Gaza and the peace process.


The communique, which expresses the views of the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, Germany France, Italy and Russia, deals with major global issues and challenges, among them the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (complete article)

Bad Definition and Translation Fouls Things Up

My previous post about Young Israel has gotten some interesting comments.  Reading them I realize that the decision of the Young Israel Movement to ban converts from being president of the member shuls may be based on a misreading of a Hebrew word/term, גר "ger," stranger or slang for "convert" properly called גר צדק "ger tzedek," righteous convert.  Yes, that means that the same word has opposite meanings, diametrically opposed meanings.

A stam גר "ger," stranger, non-Jew is forbidden to serve in positions of authority for the Jewish People.  There's no doubt, and I'd use that concept to stress the importance of always modifying  terms like "president" when talking about foreign presidents, like United States President Obama, to make it clear that he isn't our president.  He has no authority over Jewish issues including what happens in the Land of Israel.

Non-Jewish/Israeli foreign government officials are administrators only and not authorities on morality.  That's how I interpret what yaak quoted in the comments to my previous post.

True, I'm not a rabbi nor trained in rabbinic mind-set, but sometimes that's an advantage, because I can see things with fresh eyes.  

Friends who study Torah with me are used to the fact that I frequently ask for details about word usage.  One of my pet-peeves is the mistranslation of "לאהוב" "le'ehov," into "to love" giving it a romantic twist when an examination of its Biblical usage shows it as "pledging loyalty." The "Shema" prayer and Yonatan's speech to David are good examples.  Modern Hebrew adopted the foreign meaning.

I trust this will ferment some thought.  There's something else fermenting in my kitchen which is calling me.  More later...