Shifra's in the Jerusalem Post

Shifra Shomron, who sometimes posts to this blog, is featured in the Jerusalem Post!

Have you heard any security warnings not to visit Europe?

This morning, my husband was supposed to host a US Consular official. Honestly, I was relieved when the visit was cancelled. The house is a mess, and I wouldn't have had been ready by the appointed time of 11am.

It was cancelled, because of security alerts. OK?

Now I've been taking a quick pre-Shabbat look at the headlines:
Gadhafi's son: Terrorists will hit Europe again

I wonder if the American officials are telling American tourists to return home or evacuating their families...

Hold the Applause!

Headlines are shouting:

Giuliani opposes Palestinian state
Giuliani Says Palestinian State Would Support Terrorism

Sounds great, but it's not so simple, even though the second headline is followed by the following opening paragraph:

American Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has bucked the party line of successive US administrations and come out against the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The first headline has a more accurate opening, correcting the misleading statement in its first sentence:

US Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said he opposes creation of a
Palestinian state at this time...

Only in paragraph three, does the second article begin to explain:

Giuliani did not rule out the eventual establishment of such a
state

So, don't get all excited. Basically, the politicians are all saying the same thing. The only difference is whether or not they'll demand "prerequisites."

Remember to read the fine print!

A Jewish Mother's Guide to End Times by Ellen W. Horowitz

A Jewish Mother's Guide to End Times
August 13, 2007
Ellen W. Horowitz

"No weapon engineered against you will succeed..."
Isaiah 54:17

The above words from this past week' s Haftara are comforting for a mother who sits in a leaderless country run by lunatics; with Iranian-backed Syria literally looming on my horizon and my sons assigned to combat units. America' s liberty crusade through the Middle East has just been turned into a shop-' til-you-drop arms extravaganza for peace, with headlines blaring: "U.S. military deals with Mideast promote stability". There is talk of imminent war, but our army is preoccupied with desecrating the city of our forefathers (Hebron); while those affected are so pained as to blaspheme our army. The Jewish unity needed to ensure victory, security and sanity seems aeons away. Nu? So what else is new?

Some warn of global warming and others of nuclear winter. Through it all, I hope and pray that my family will remain firmly planted on the ever-shifting Syrian-African rift. Armageddon is not on my mind - but Redemption always is.

I believe the words of the Prophets are true, but as a Jew I know that whereas good prophecies will be actualized, the bad ones can be overturned by human endeavors. I also know that battles can be fought in the Heavens, rather than on earth. I anticipate miracles, and yet I' ve got a few gerrycans of water and some extra blankets stored in the corner - just in case.

"Bible thumping" is something I do two weeks before Pesach - when I clean my book shelves in search of random crumbs. And "Doomsday" is what my youngest kid will face if he brings one more stray cat into this house.

"Tribulation" is what this mother went through two weeks ago as I tried to keep my children, the goats, dogs, cats, chickens, birds, and rabbits cool through an incredible heat wave. And "rapture" is what I felt when the temperature broke, leaving me - and a stressed-out air conditioner - alone.

But it' s when I' m alone that domestic and international difficulties never fail to invade my bliss. As a creative religious woman, living in the Holy Land, I confess that I' ve toyed with numerous spiritual scenarios, and pondered various political, and military options. But never have I ever entertained thoughts of a biblically based Christian Jewish merger against Islam. I¹m grateful that I' ve remained fairly lucid despite the chaos ( I' m afraid, with regards to this issue, many have not).

It wasn' t long ago that a person could have gone through an entire lifetime without ever having heard of the term "eschatology". "Judeo -Christian" was a term used to describe a cultural tradition within the framework of Western civilization - it was not a religion. And what exactly is "Islamo-Fascism", if not a newfangled term for an ancient problem called Amalek?

A corrupted fusing of faiths, ideology and political interests has produced some incredibly mutant relationships - born in sin - which have infringed upon the independent belief systems of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. These hybrid hydras have smashed all that is sacred by trespassing spiritual, personal, political, cultural, and academic boundaries. A devastating precedent with unimaginable consequences has been set in motion.

Shimon Erem, a retired Israeli general, is now described as "an early mobilizer of Judeo-Christian anti-Islamo fascism" who feels compelled to warn the U.S. "that it must quickly end its indifference before it ceases to be a society of Christian ideals"? (You won¹t find that stuff in the annals of IDF protocol.)

Rabbi MK Benny Elon broke all historic Jewish precedent by appealing to missionary leaders to convert Muslims to Christianity, and by then proceeding to invite missionaries to become and integral part of the Jewish State' s political process?

Israeli academic and Director of the NGO The Jerusalem Summit, Dr. Dmitry Radyshevsky, calls for a Christian restoration of Europe, and for Christians and Jews to unite "politically and spiritually" in the face of radical Islam. He believes that "Jews and Christians are one tree, with the Jews forming the roots and the Christians the branches..."

In a recent Jerusalem Post article, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin ran roughshod over his revered rebbe¹s staunch position opposing interfaith theological dialogue. Perhaps Rabbi Riskin was unaware that some of those evangelical leaders which he singled out for praise are actively promoting a Messianic Jewish (Hebrew-Christian) restoration in Israel. And I believe his understanding of the concept of theological grafting - which deeply touched him - may be incomplete.

I' ll go out on a limb (no pun intended ) and suggest that not only does the cultish metaphor of a grafted Judeo-Christian olive tree constitute a prohibited union; but that any Jew who adheres to, advocates, or entertains this belief is dabbling with avodah zarah (literally, "strange worship").

You can delve into Rambam, consult with your Rav, or simply read the following quote found on the website of the youth division of the ICEJ (International Christian Embassy), in order to understand just how forbidden this concept is for Jews:

Ephesians 3 vs. 6 "This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus."
http://www.grafted.org/purpose.html

When Islamic Jihadi meets Christian crusader over the future of the Land of Israel, and the amen choir is made up of religious Zionists, Knesset members, and sundry Jewish national leaders; where will that leave concerned Jews who may not be Torah literate or textbook Zionists, but who do possess beating Jewish hearts, a natural aversion to alien theology, and an overwhelming sense of terrestrial responsibility? Do we just dismiss them as godless liberals and saw off that branch in order to make room for faithful Christians? Grafting 50 million plus rapture-ready evangelicals onto the far right branches of our now lopsided tree means we stand to lose a few good roots - and lose ourselves when that tree topples.
And what about the rest of the forest - meaning the rest of humanity?

There was a time when "G-d fearing" was associated with responsibility, accountability and foresight. The ability to belt out Biblical verses verbatim and creatively interpret prophetic writings was not a prerequisite to walking with G-d or being a great political leader.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of our current voluntary liaison with the cross, is that we stand to surrender an essential part of ourselves - and our universal role.
It was Jews who had shown the world how to temper and refine religious zeal with wisdom. We were able to transform lofty out-of-this-world concepts by bringing them into an earthly domain and channeling the inspiration into concrete, productive ethical, responsible and compassionate behavior and action that was universally acceptable. We never felt comfortable with the gushing hallelujah crowd, because, for us, religious experience had always been personal, intimate, and non-intrusive. We were to lead and win converts by sanctifying G-d' s name and serving as outstanding individual and collective examples.

At the end of the day ( as opposed to "the end of days "), Israel' s Left will have to foot the bill for initiating Oslo and the physical and emotional upheaval that ensued. However, the national Zionist camp could have it worse. In our desperation and political isolation we have knowingly forged a forbidden relationship and have initiated and implemented programs which caused spiritual destruction and gross erosion of the fences which were built around the Torah.

In an historic Biblical reversal it seems we have tried to sell our birthright to some clean-shaven, faithful preachers in exchange for the opportunity to rake in some badly needed tourist bucks, secure influence in Washington, and to pass the burden of caring for our own peoples' charitable and humanitarian needs on to ready and willing Christians. Without immediate correction, we may have to call this epic chapter in Jewish history, "Esau' s revenge ".
------
The writer lives in the Golan Heights, is a painter and the author of The Oslo Years: a Mother's Journal (available through Gefen Publishing)

5% for Olmert? Israeli Democracy?

Latest polls proclaim 5% support for Olmert. It seems like to know him is to hate him. That's far from double digits.

Strange kind of democracy we have here in Israel.

Much less from a majority of the people want Olmert to be Prime Minister. Totalitarian dictators have more popular support.

At the same time, Bibi claims that Feiglin's vote in the Likud, of over 20% is "an insignificant minority," and Feiglin wasn't even allowed into Likud headquarters to congratulate Bibi after the primaries. Now, I'd take that as a hint that Bibi doesn't want our vote in the Knesset elections.


His attempts to delegitimize Feiglin should backfire like a couple of decades ago when Labor leaders called the North African Jews supporting Menachem Begin, "riff raff."

Consider the history of the Likud, it's absurd to say that it's the party of Jabotinsky-Zionist Revisionism, because it's a merging of various parties, and only one, Cherut, could make that claim. This process has been going on for over thirty years. Israeli politicians are notoriously fickle.

Bibi is not acting like a national leader. Trying to be "moderate," "center" is just a way to fall through the cracks. The public is looking for answers, for leadership, not a cat chasing its tail.

There was something very interesting I read about the relative popularity of the various post high school yeshivot. (I can't find the link and would be grateful for it if someone has it.) The yeshivot whose Roshei Yeshiva were firmly against Disengagement, encouraging its students to refuse orders, are now more popular than those like Atzmona and Eli, whose rabbis preached compromise and cooperation.

Jewish Hebron -- photos by Yoni Gormezano

Here's a selection of the photos which Yoni took in Jewish Hebron last Friday.

Thanks to Yoni for giving me permission to post them.

Moshe needs an Aaron

Now we know the results of the Likud Primaries. If the voting and count were *kosher, Feiglin got almost a quarter of the votes and Danon was a very distant third.

*Honestly, I don't consider the way the elections were run "kosher." Bibi Netanyahu, realizing that he wasn't going to get the percentage he had wanted, brought the polls to his people by keeping them opened an extra hour and having a polling station in Eilat, so his vacationing Likudniks could vote.

Netanyahu is mastering political skills and has taken over the Likud bureaucracy. Feiglin is a total incompetent in that sense. Here's a comment I wrote to a comment of a previous post:

What's sad is that his platform is good but his "politics" is useless. Unfortunately, one has to play politics. That's the lesson we must learn from Olmert and Sharon. Sharon did it in the end with personal charisma and Olmert, lacking charisma succeeds with technique. Feiglin has neither.

The Biblical Moshe knew that he was lacking in people/political skills, even though he was in direct communication with G-d. That's what he needed his brother Aaron for.

Today's Moshe Feiglin hasn't a clue to the fact that telling the truth and having the right ideas aren't enough to change the world or win an election or govern. There's no point in his being on the Likud list for Knesset. I still won't vote Likud, since he isn't politically savvy enough to have any real influence on the fate of our precious People and Nation.

Moshe Feiglin

Moshe Feiglin has a few positive points to his favor.

(1. An original mind, he is the only politician who addresses the underlying reason for the poisonous malaise that envelopes this country. He understands that once you cut your ties with Jewish history (a classic example is the "Israeli" Nobel Prize winner Shimon Peres), you destroy the justice of your claim to Eretz Yisrael and your right to be here at all. This is the philosophic dilemma which confronts the left and causes them serious ethical problems. Deep down - actually not so deep down - they do not believe we have the right to be in "Palestine" at all. So perhaps if we make enough concessions to the "Palestianians, the real owners of this country" and de-Judaize Israel completely, maybe, maybe, maybe, the "Palestinians" will come to love us and they'll forgive us for stealing their land. Our leftist brethren really think that by the way.

Of course, as Bismark said, "he who would buy off his enemies with concessions will find that he never will be rich enough." Our problem is that we do not see those who would kill us as enemies at all; our potential murderers are merely "the other". Feiglin understands the major difference.

(2. Feiglin understands that the population is Israel is not "20% religious and 80% secular" as the leftest media constantly tells us. The vast majority of this country are "traditional" and not "secular". Every poll confirms this. And unlike the media stars and the vast majority of newspaper editors and columnists, they have not lost their ties to Jewish religion, culture, and history. (It is no mystery why, as the three major newspapers vear ever more leftwards, they continually drop readers by the hundreds of thousands.)

(3. The pool of Likud voters represent the only non-"sectarian" party in Israel. The other paries are as sectarian as Agudah, Shas, and the Mafdal. Meretz represnts Ashkenazi leftist intellectual and their"wannabees"; Kadima basically represents the well-healed dwellers of the skyscrapers and villas in Gush Dan and those unfortunates still brainwashed by the media; Labor represents the powerful Va'adei Ovdim (port workers, electric co. etc.) and Histradut flunkies. etc. The list goes on. On the other hand, unlike any other party, the Likud voters really are drawn from every class and group in Israel; it really is a microcosm of Israel i society.

(4. Small parties play no serious role in today's Israel political system and they are easily bought and sold. Look at Shas, Agudah, and Yisrael Beiteinu; they have no real influence and for the crumbs they receive, they shamelessly maintain the Olmert regime. On the other hand, there are some spectacular people (Dr Aryeh Eldad for one) who are neutralized because they are members of miniscule parties that are totally irrevelant. Feiglin is the only one in the "nationalist camp" who understands that the real battle must be fought within the larger parties; intelligently he chose the Likud.

I wish there was a labor equivalent.

I do not know if Feiglin is the man to become chairman of the Likud and possibly Prime Minister - some of his propaganda is very naive - but at least he understands the larger picture which puts him in a class by himself.

For these reasons, I feel that Moshe Feiglin deserves consideration.

Catriel Sugarman

Let's guess the percentage...

... that Moshe Feiglin will get in the Likud Primaries.

Carl also supports him and gives some good reasons. His reasons are not the same as mine, but we do come to the same conclusion.

While talking to a good friend about Feiglin's support, it occurred to me that if Feiglin does "too well," the chances are that Bibi will most probably invite back some of the former Likud MK's, who had deserted to Kadima. That will strengthen him and gives the turncoats a chance to keep their seats.

The big problem with Feiglin is that he has been working too superficially within the Likud, focusing on elections. He thinks as an outsider. To take over the party, he must work from the bottom up. He has to take over the party institutions and internal positions. He should have been convincing old time Likudniks, who think of themselves as from Cherut or Gachal, that he's one of them.

I'm supporting Feiglin, because I think that Bibi* will endanger the country, because he's too much like Barak and Olmert (and Sharansky) in his policies. They all promote, support giving the Arabs our land. Bibi and Sharansky attach it to "conditions," but it's all the same. Whether the Arabs call themselves "modern, western democrats" or just plain terrorist anarchists, they still want to destroy the State of Israel. That's the bottom line.

When you're buying something expensive, you need to know the final price, not the base price without taxes and surcharges.

*Yes, there's a third candidate, Danny Danon. I've checked with sources who've worked with him, and they all say that he's an unreliable opportunist, like a young Olmert, but worse, since Olmert was better in his youth.

Kever Rachel, A Taste of the Temple

It was very crowded in Kever Rachel yesterday. The second door was in use for women entering. Buses were depositing worshipers and picking them up at a frenetic pace, and it was only the day before Rosh Chodesh Elul.


I get very annoyed and can't concentrate when people are crowding me and pushing me. So I wasn't a "happy camper" when I realized how many people would be there.


Somehow I managed to get fairly close to the front and near some chairs by the side wall. I was still expecting a bad experience, so traumatized from a previous visit when some women almost knocked me down, when I was in the middle of prayer.

I said T'hillim, Psalms, from my book. I hadn't received the special sheets, but I couldn't have held them with all the women crowded around me. Yes, they were crowding around, but they didn't knock into me. I calmed down. Even when I said the Amida, standing prayer, when one shouldn't move, I wasn't pushed, not at all.

I was reminded of the stories told of how thousands of Jews would crowd into the Holy Temple and miraculously there would be room for all.

Yes, that's how I felt yesterday at Kever Rachel.

We're the "David"

It's rare for me to see CNN, even when it's available, but yesterday when I was babysitting for my granddaughter in Ofra, it was the only channel that looked interesting from their limited selection.

A high percentage of their broadcast is "commercials" for their upcoming programs. The one that piqued my interest was "G-d's Warriors." The visuals of the ad were very interesting.

First there is the theme of the "cross," "star" and "crescent." Very artistic. But even more interesting were the pictures of "soldiers" of the various religions. The Muslims and Christians were pictures as armies of warriors, while, in strong contrast, we saw lone Jews. You had a young man praying with his T'fillin on and you had Christiane Amanpour walking in an agricultural setting with white-haired Yehuda Etzion; I'm pretty sure it was him. One against the many.

I'm sure the show will be full of inaccuracies, but I can't get over the fact that they consider us so powerful.

One religious, Land of Israel-loving Jew can defeat the Muslim and Christian masses!

Let's use this power.

Chodesh Elul Tov!