Stop Raping Israel

Women Of Valor (אשת חיל מי ימצא)

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:38:00 +0000

22 of the Tenth Month 5771

אֵשֶׁת-חַיִל, מִי יִמְצָא; וְרָחֹק מִפְּנִינִים מִכְרָהּ. מִשְׁלֵי לא,י

A woman of valor who can find? for her price is far above rubies.
Proverbs 31:10

YNET: Rabbis' Wives: Don't Date Arabs

New letter signed by rabbis' wives appeals to women urging them to stay away from Arabs. 'As soon as they have in you in their grasp – everything becomes different. Attention will be replaced with curses, physical abuse and humiliation,' letter states

Yair Altman, December 28, 2010

After the rabbis' letter called on Jews not to rent apartments to Arabs comes their wives' turn: Twenty-seven prominent rabbis' wives signed a letter distributed by the 'Lehava' organization calling on Jewish women not to date Arabs, work in places where Arabs are employed or volunteer for National Service with them. (Read the full article...)

These women should be praised for their wisdom and their courage! They are truly women of valor.

And, as it also says...

חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים, בָּנְתָה בֵיתָהּ; וְאִוֶּלֶת, בְּיָדֶיהָ תֶהֶרְסֶנּוּ. מִשְׁלֵי יד,א

Every wise woman builds her house; but the foolish plucks it down with her hands. Proverbs 14:1

Just as Shifra and Pu'ah were rewarded with "houses" for saving the lives of newly born B'nei Yisra'el (Ex. 1:21), these rabbis' wives are working to maintain those houses.

Whereas, any woman who has a blind eye or encourages such behavior is nothing less than plucking them down.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

WikiLeaks And Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:52:00 +0000

Erev Hanukkah 5771

So, everyone seems to be talking about WikiLeaks, the right, the left, and the in between. And, as well they should be.

Many government officials now have egg on their faces, because of WikiLeaks.

Personally, I fear for WikiLeaks founder Jullian Assange's life. You never can tell with some of these politicians. Everyone knows of the particular dangers involved with dealing with a wounded animal. But, such dangers pale in comparison to those stemming from a wounded politician!

Reaching across the world, not surprisingly, WikiLeaks has touched Israel, exposing some of the idiocy of the Israeli government, and its illustrious officials, such as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and opposition leader MK Tzippy Livni (Kadima).

Some of the scandalous, juicy bits are right on, and should not be an embarrassment to the speaker at all, such as PM Netanyahu describing Kadima as a "phony party." Good one, Bibi!

One juicy bit,...one disgusting, juicy bit needs to be mentioned here. There is too much of a risk that it will escape under the radar:

YNET News:
Netanyahu also said that President Shimon Peres had confessed to him that Oslo was based on a false premise.

The question about the Oslo Accords was never concerned with whether they would work or not. Anyone who was not naive, or entrenched in the idea that applying non-Torah, Western sensibilities toward the dealing with Arabs, KNEW that it would never work.

No. The question about the Oslo Accords was whether their architects really believed in it, or were really just evil, plotting Israel's destruction from within.

I believe that we now have final confirmation of the answer to our question.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

The U. S. Is Plagued By Tunnels - Middah k'Neged Middah

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:49:00 +0000

Erev Hanukkah 5771

America's Third War: Uncovering Border Tunnels
William Lajeunesse, FoxNews.com, November 24, 2010

Scores of trucks pass through Otay Mesa (San Diego Co.), California, each day, loading and dropping off cargo at various warehouses located just yards from the U.S.-Mexico border.

One warehouse bearing the name "Medi Int Enterprises" -- an alleged storage facility for toilet paper -- seemed to be running business as usual, equipped with a front desk and receptionist. Yet, on Nov. 3, 2010, Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents found they were storing much more than bathroom supplies.

ICE agents intercepted a truck leaving the warehouse and discovered 20,000 pounds of marijuana. An additional 32,000 pounds were found in 10-kilo bricks throughout the warehouse, making it the second largest seizure of marijuana in U.S. history. But, the biggest find was what lurked below.

Agents found 1,800 feet of tunnel running underneath the warehouse to Mexico. Designed with tracks and pulleys, the smuggling tunnel is the most recent to be discovered in a growing number popping up along border states. (Read more...)

Israel has been plagued by tunnels, used for smuggling weapons into Azza (Gaza) from Egypt. Yet, Israel is under pressure from the U. S. and others as to how to deal with the tunnels, and how not to. In other words, due to pressure from the U. S., Israel is forced into doing a half-hearted job of dealing with these tunnels. Thus, the weapons continue to pour through unabated.

True, it is Israel's fault for submitting to the will of the "almighty" U. S. Nonetheless, the U. S. seems to be getting punished "middah k'neged middah" (measure for measure).

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

The Kiss Of Esau (הנשיקה של עשו)

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:47:00 +0000

Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parashath Wayeishev 5771

Last week, Jews read Parashath Wayishlah. One pasuq in particular caught my attention. Coming back into Eretz Yisra'el with his family, Ya'aqov is warned that his brother Esau approaches, and so he prepares to meet him through prayer, military strategy, and gifts. When Ya'aqov and Esau meet, this is what happens...

בראשית לג
ד וירץ עשיו לקראתו ויחבקהו, וייפול על-צוואריו ויישקהו; ויבכו

Genesis 33
4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.

Rash"i comments that

וישקהו, נקוד עליו, ויש חולקין בדבר הזה בברייתא דספרי, יש שדרשו נקודה זו לומר שלא נשקו בכל לבו. אמר ר' שמעון בר יוחאי הלכה היא בידוע שעשו שונא ליעקב, אלא שנכמרו רחמיו באותה שעה ונשקו בכל לבו.

And he kissed him..., is dotted above it [in a Torah scroll], there is disagreement on this point in a baraita of Sifri, there are those who view the dots saying that he [Esau] did not kiss him with all of his heart. R' Shimon Bar Yohai says the halacha is well known that Esau hates Ya'aqov, but he took pity upon him at that moment, and he did kiss him with all of his heart.

After citing the same midrash regarding the presence of dots above the word (וישקהו), Bereishith Rabba (75:9) continues with an alternative view...

אמר לו ר' ינאי אם כן למה נקוד עליו, אלא מלמד שלא בא לנשקו אלא לנשכו, ונעשה צוארו של אבינו יעקב של שיש וקהו שניו של אותו רשע. ומה תלמוד לומר ויבכו, אלא זה בוכה על צוארו וזה בוכה על שניו. ר' אבהו בשם ר' יוחנן מיתי לה מן הכא (שיר השירים ז ה) צוארך כמגדל השן וגו'.

R' Yannai says, “If so, why is is it dotted above? Rather it teaches that he [Esau] did not come to kiss him, but rather to bite him, and the neck of Ya'aqov Avinu was made into marble and the teeth of the evil one dulled. And what it said regarding ‘and they cried?’ Rather this one cried because of his neck, and this one cried because of his teeth. R' Abahu in the name of R' Yohanan, “Say to him from this, ‘Your neck is like a tower of ivory…’” (Song of Songs 7:5)

More recently, the S'fas Emes, the Gerer Rebbe of the late 19th Century, stated that...

כשעשו מנשק, יעקב ננשך!

When Esau kisses, Ya'aqov iss bitten!

So, who is Esau, that we must still be on guard from his bite, as well as his kiss?

The answer can also be found in Bereishith Rabba. Here HaZa”L identifies Esau with “The Evil Empire,” their code phrase, if you will, for Rome.

Rome was transformed into the Holy Roman Empire, which eventually fell under control of the Roman Catholic Church, having great influence, if not total control, over the countries comprising the European continent. Christianity underwent various transformations but the forbidden belief in a false messiah-deity is the same, no matter how many different changes Christians claim have taken in place their approach.

Another midrash teaches that Rome continues to be a threat to the Jewish People. In Parashath Shemini, we receive extensive instruction regarding the kashruth status of animals. Four mammals are mentioned specifically as not being kasher. The camel, the rock badger, and the rabbit chew their cud, yet they are not kosher, as they do not possess split hooves. The last in the list, the pig does have a split hoof, yet does not chew its cud (Lev. 11:1-8).

According to the midrash, these four animals represent the four Kingdoms which have ruled over Am Yisra’el. The pig represents our current and final exile, albeit our longest, that of Rome. The first three animals are not kasher due to problems with their limbs; whereas the pig is not kosher, due to its mouth. It sticks its split hooves out there, proclaiming that it is kosher. It even makes a chewing motion with its mouth, yet does not actually chew its cud. In other words, it lies.

“We love you!”

“We love Israel!”

“We want to give you money, and build you cultural centers!”

“We want to visit you, and volunteer to help you build up the land!”

The Ramba”m (Maimonides), a prominent halachic authority of the 1100's CE, suggests that we must not do anything which will allow ovdei avodah zarah (practicioners of forbidden worship) to get a hold on the land, nor anything which will make it easy for them to stay here. (Mishneh Torah, Hil. Avodah Zarah 10:1-9)

And very clearly, the Ramba”m states...

הנוצריים עובדי עבודה זרה הן (הל' עבודה זרה ט,ד)

The Christians are ovdei avodah zarah.... (ibid. 9:4)

In censored versions of the Mishneh Torah, Christians cleverly substituted the word “Romans” for “Christians,” in an attempt to cover up their identity with Rome (Edom/Esau), the very kingdom which currently rules over the Jewish People in exile, both physically and spiritually.

So why are those, who are forbidden to be settled in the Land (ibid. 10:1-9), being settled in the Land? Why is the town of Ariel in Samaria home to Christian missionaries and churches? Why are Likud Members of K'nesseth attending dedications for Christian (ie. avodah zarah) television stations,...in Israel?

Why are those who have performed the misswah of destroying avodah zarah been condemned by officials of the Israeli government,...in the name of “freedom of religious practice?” And, just where exactly in the Torah is any thing stated, which is even remotely related to “freedom of religious practice?”

The Torah also states...

...ולא-תקח שוחד--כי השוחד יעור את עיני חכמים, ויסלף את דברי צדיקים - דברים ט"ז,י"ט

…and do not take a bribe, for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and distorts the words of the righteous. (Deut. 16:19)

This refers to Hakhamim, thus even more so for those of us who are not Hakhamim.

So, why are “cultural centers” and playgrounds being built by Christians or with Christian money? Why are “religious, right-wing” radio stations accepting significant amounts of money from Christians? Why are their broadcasters visiting “messianic” congregations in North America?

Do “religious” Jews really think that they can take Christian money, and not be influenced in some way? Are “religious” Jews really fooled by the “hazir's” smiles, by the “hazir's” lies?

It appears so.

Still have doubts? Tomer Devorah has pointed out something very interesting, not proof perhaps, but very interesting nonetheless. If you change the letters in Esau's name around, you get none other than Hebrew name Christian missionaries’use for their false god.

עשיו = ישוע

Yeshu'a is essentially the same name as Yehoshu'a, Joshua in English or Jason from the Greek. Whether a real, compilation, or totally imaginary figure, some of our Sages z”l referred to him as YeSh”U, an acronym for yimach shemo wezikhro, “may his name and memory be blotted out.”

Some Qabbalistic sources claim that YeSh”U was the reincarnation of Esau.

In order to deal with Esau today, and defend against his bite-kiss, we must apply the same strategies as those of Ya'aqov, our forefather.

Prayer: We must pray to HaShem, separated from Esau, NOT with Esau.

Military Strategies: We must plan to defenses from Esau, NOT with Esau.

Gifts: We may give gifts to Esau, things than are helpful to him, and to the rest of humanity, like solar, agricultural, and computer technology, NOT accept gifts from Esau.

*********

For a list of Jewish organizations accepting money from John Hagee (יש"ו) alone, click here.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A People

noreply@blogger.com (bernie) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:56:00 +0000

Jack Shaheen is Professor Emeritus of Mass Communication at Southern Illinois University. He studies how Arabs and Islam are portrayed in American media, particularly stereotypical images.

In 2001 he wrote Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, where he surveyed more than 900 film appearances of Arab characters. Of those, only a dozen were positive and 50 were balanced. Shaheen writes "Seen through Hollywood's distorted lenses, Arabs look different and threatening."

But are these distorted lenses or seeing through a glass clearly? And is Hollywood even guilty of creating the stereotype?

At the conclusion of this series of 13 posts (This is post number 4) in the category Muslim Stereotypes I will show that Hollywood presents Arabs and Muslims as they truly are, evil when they act evil, and good when they act good, no distortion.

What I want to discuss in this article is who started the stereotype of Arab as evil.

The photo above is of a painting by Eugène Delacroix - The Death of Sardanapalus (1827-1828 - Oil on canvas) which is now hanging in the Louvre, Paris, France. Here is a quick description from Wikipedia:

Its dominant feature is a large bed on which a nude prostrates herself and beseeches the apathetic Sardanapalus for mercy. Sardanapalus had ordered his possessions destroyed and sex slaves murdered before immolating himself, once he learned that he was faced with military defeat.

Death of Sardanapalus is based on the tale of Sardanapalus, the last king of Assyria, from the historical library of Diodorus Siculus, the Ancient Greek historian, and is a work of the era of Romanticism.

The Assyrians, a Semitic people north of present day Iraq, were a race of warriors, more cruel and brutal than any other race before. Their history is filled with wars, conquests, and slave-taking.

It is interesting to note that Delacroix portrayed Sardanapalus as an Arab King in possession of black warrior slaves and white sex slaves and who had no regard for human life; that is to say, the common view that Europeans held regarding Arabs for more than a millennium.

So for centuries before Hollywood, centuries before the Jews controlled the media in the United States, there was a stereotypical view of the Arab as a bloodthirsty cut-throat who held slaves and massacred peoples.

In the Youtube video Planet of The Arabs, which is based on Shaheen's book, the claim is repeated that Hollywood relentlessly vilifies and dehumanizes Arabs and Muslims.

The truth is the opposite. Hollywood depicts Arabs and Muslims accurately and truthfully.

There are many Hollywood films in which Arabs and Muslims are depicted positively. The problem for Shaheen, is that he does not want Arabs portrayed as terrorists at all. But that is like asking Hollywood not to show Italians and Jews as controlling the illicit liquor business during prohibition. Or mentioning people of German descent if the film is about WWII. Or showing Irish terrorists if the film is about The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Read the rest at Planck's Constant.

The Jewish Democratic State

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:27:00 +0000

Hol HaMo'ed Sukkoth 5771

*Please go to the original YNET article, and join in the debate in the comments section!

The Jewish Democratic State

Op-ed: Israel must make a choice, as it cannot be both truly Jewish and democratic.

Yoel Meltzer
September 22, 2010

Roughly 60 years after the establishment of the modern State of Israel, by far the most ubiquitous term employed today to describe the political and social nature of the country is that Israel is a Jewish democratic state. Be it in the media or on the lips of politicians, the use of the term has become so widespread that most people in Israel simply accept it as a given truth without so much as a passing thought. Nonetheless, despite the extensive usage of the phrase, it should be clear to anyone with a discerning eye that the term resonates with cognitive dissonance.

The term, or more properly the confusion that led to the term, started in the early days of the state. In May 1948, the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel proclaimed the Jewish nature of the country by declaring "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael." However, the same declaration also promised to “ensure complete equality of…. political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion….”

Thus, on the one hand Israel was to be a Jewish state while on the other hand it was declared to be a state of all its citizens regardless of religion. As a result of this ambiguity, right from the start there was a built-in contradiction of terms. Namely, was Israel to be a Jewish state that would incorporate some democratic aspects or was it to be a democratic state with a “Jewish feel?" Since these terms describe situations that are mutually exclusive, Israel could not possibly be both.

The Jewish component in the above equation was given precedence by the 1950 Law or Return, which stipulated that every Jew has the right to immigrate to Israel. However, the subsequent 1952 Nationality Law reestablished the confusion by stating, inter alia, “A person who, immediately before the establishment of the State, was a Palestinian citizen…. shall become an Israel national….” Thus citizenship, and with it the right to vote, was further anchored for the non-Jewish population.

This lack of clarity continued for decades and then in 1992 under the activist court of Justice Aharon Barak, the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom was passed in order to “establish in a Basic Law the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.” Moreover, according to Justice Barak’s subsequent writings on the meaning of the vague phrase “Jewish democratic state,” it became apparent that his intention in the law was to define Israel as primarily a democratic state, albeit one that also encompasses a variety of Jewish aspects. Of course, Barak’s litmus test for these Jewish aspects was that they must be consistent with the values of a democracy.

Despite Barak’s true intention as to what actually took precedence, namely the democratic aspect, the neutral phrase “Jewish democratic state” has been promulgated ever since. This is a shame since the term is problematic for several reasons.

Most importantly, the term perpetuates confusion and avoids dealing with a very serious issue. Israel has a large Arab minority, the majority of which will never connect to the collective dreams and aspirations of the Jewish people and likewise will never really feel part of a Jewish state. To think otherwise is foolish. In addition, it is demeaning to the Arabs to expect differently since they naturally have pride in their own culture and a bond to the larger Arab nation.

Downplaying Jewish Component
Thus, in order not to antagonize or alienate the Arabs, as well as to avoid being condemned for making statements that are not politically correct, Israel downplays the Jewish component and promotes the democratic one. To its own Jewish residents, however, the majority of which has some connection to the land and the tradition, it sells the Jewish component under the amorphous “Jewish democratic state.” Thus, the term is very useful for placating the Jewish population, even if doing so is somewhat misleading. More importantly, by hiding behind the term “Jewish democratic state” Israel continues to shirk its responsibility in dealing with a very complex and difficult issue.

If Israel is a true democracy of “one man-one vote” then the Arab minority could hypothetically take over the country via the election process and change the nature of the state. However, since this is a scenario that most of the Jews in the country would never agree to and even fear, the phrase “Jewish democratic state” should stop being rammed down the collective mindset of the nation since it is only seeding more confusion. Moreover, should the Arabs ever get close to taking over the country, it’s a sure bet that most of the advocates of the phrase “Jewish democratic state” would be out of here in a flash, leaving the rest of us to deal with the mess.
On the diplomatic front, a Jewish state connected to its inner meaning, its heritage and its land, would never consider relinquishing part of its ancestral homeland. However, a democratic state for which the Jewish component is weak or sentimental at best has no qualms under difficult times of relinquishing land since ultimately the land has no deeper significance.

This fact is clearly understood by the Arabs as well as by all those who are pressuring us to surrender land. For this reason, the supremacy afforded the democratic component at the expense of the Jewish component has severely weakened Israel’s bargaining position vis-à-vis the Arabs. Moreover, since everyone knows that the term “Jewish democratic state” does not mean Jewish in any profound way, then constantly using the term to describe the State of Israel is only helping to facilitate its downfall.

At the end of the day, Israel must choose. Either it is a Jewish state with some democratic aspects or it is democratic state with a Jewish flavor. It cannot be both. The continued use of the term “Jewish democratic state” is simply a way to avoid making this choice. Moreover, it represents a state of denial that underlies all the confusion and weakness that abound here. For the survival of the country, the term “Jewish democratic state” must be discarded and in its place the real “Jewish state” must rise.

Esser Agaroth:
*This is my talkback which YNET has yet to publish,...and probably will not.

Meltzer is essentially correct. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.
The Israeli government is hardly Jewish, and hardly a democracy. It can't be a democracy without true freedom of speech, which we absolutely do NOT have. It is a crime to call goverment officials a name, so called racist incitement is a crime. Asking to vote for whether Jews should leave Gaza or hostile Arabs should leave instead is a crime.

Yet leftists protesting at the so-called security fence get away with violence toward Israeli law enforcement.

Clearly the famous line at the end of George Orwell's Animal Farm applies here:

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

However, the eventual goal of the Jewish People is too have a Jewish government in the Jewish Homeland.

What is a Jewish government? ...one based on Torah with a king or a nassi and a Sanhedrin, the hachamim making the decisions which the masses should not have anything to do with.

See “Governance Of A Jewish State” for more information on this.

In the mean time, perhaps we could have a temporary democracy, yet those claiming the need for a constitution are mistaken. We already have one,...the Torah.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

A Brilliant But Evil Plan!

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:26:00 +0000

13 Tishrei 5770

With the catastrophic expulsion of Jews from Azza (Gaza/Gush Qatif) in 5765 (2005), I have since often wondered how the Israeli government will attempt to implement the next expulsion of Jews, this time from Yehudah, Shomron, and even Jerusalem (May God forbid!).

Using Jewish towns in these areas as laboratories to see which sick plan for removing Jews from their homes and land will be the most efficient, the Israeli government appeared to have only a few options:

1. Pay Jews to move out, and help them to relocate else in Israel. These Jews may or may not get rewarded for their “initiative,” but probably not. (Not enough Jews will want to leave, and the Jews who would not mind leaving will not fall for this one,...again.)

2. Remove them forcibly, as the the powers that be did in Azza, then let them sit around in temporary housing indefinitely until the outrage in the Israeli news media dies down, and then just forget about them. (Too expensive.)

3. Bring in the bulldozers in overnight without warning. Then go to option 2. (Not enough bulldozers.)

Then I saw this. This fourth option did not surprise me in the least. After all the posters depicting Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu, removing his Ariel Sharon mask, can already be found in Jerusalem.

What did surprise me was the lack of coverage of this brilliant, but evil plan in the Israeli news media.

World Net Daily: Shock Plan: Palestinians Scheduled To Govern Jews
Aaron Klein, September 6, 2010

Netanyahu secretly proposed new plot in talks with Obama

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly has proposed a new plan whereby Jews living in the West Bank will remain in their communities after the territory becomes part of a Palestinian state, WND has learned.

Officials in both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have confirmed the plan to this reporter, marking the first time an Israeli leader has ever put on the table in a serious way a proposal involving Jewish West Bank residents remaining in a Palestinian state.

Conventional negotiations always has assumed an Israeli evacuation of its communities inside any territory taken over by the PA.

Middle East officials said the plan is being considered seriously by the Obama administration, while the PA has been less than enthusiastic. PA sources said they held a meeting last week over the plan.

The full details of the plan, such as specific security guarantees for the remaining Jews, were not disclosed. (Read more…)

Such a plan is brilliant! Evil,...but truly brilliant. Why? The Israeli government will be able to achieve the following at little to no cost to it:

1. The Israeli government will not be inconvenienced by calling up the army or police. No post-expulsion trauma, no criticism from the settlers (...Maybe from YeSh"A Council, but who cares about them anyway?).

2. No worries about collecting settlers' weapons. Let them kill off a few Arabs in their pointless struggles. What does the Israeli government care? It gets to get rid of a few Arabs, and then blames those crazy settlers for it!

3. Those Jews who regret their decision to stay won't receive a dime! After all THEY decided to stay there in the first place, and must take responsibility for THEIR decision. Maybe a token few will receive money, and be raised up as "heroes for peace." It would be good PR.

4. The government will finally be rid of those pesky settlers. Sure, they may get massacred, like the Arabs tried to do in Hevron in 1994, and succeeded in doing in 1929 (May God forbid!), but that will only server to gain sympathy with the goyim! (Doubt it.)

(WND cont.) Debriefing his cabinet on his trip last week to Washington, Netanyahu stated, "What is required is creative, novel thinking in order to resolve these complex issues."

Creative? Novel?

I'll give you creative and novel, Mr. Prime Minister: Let's throw you out of office!

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Annual Conference "The Missionary Enemy" (כנס אויב המסיונר)

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:04:00 +0000

26 Ellul 5770

The Missionary Enemy
Annual Conference

יום ג' ו' תשרי תשע"א
Tuesday evening, September 14, 2010
7:00 - 10:30 PM

Binyanei ha'Umah
(Jerusalem Convention Center)

Speakers to include:

Rabbi Simcha Kook
Rav of Rehovoth

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner
(co-) Rav of Beth-El

Rabbi Tzafanyah Drori
Rav of Qiriyath Shemonah

Rabbi Yehudah Deri
Rav of Be'er Sheva

Rabbi Shalom Dov Lifshitz
Yad leAchim
Counter Missionaries

A video about missionary activity will also be shown.

Another Story Of Proving Ones Jewishness

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:37:00 +0000

Rosh Hodesh Ellul 5770

Recently, there has been much discussion over the experience of Hillary Rubin trying to register to be married through the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.

The story was picked up by the [Am] HaAretz Israeli daily, which took great pleasure in exploiting the opportunity to bash the Rabbinate, and the Torah establishment in general.

I suggest that you read Hillary's story in her own words, which can be found on her blog “Shmutz In My Head.”

I do not know all of the details, whether the scrutiny was warranted or not, nor do I know much else about Hillary, not her political views nor her religious ones. Mention was made of a “Conservative” spiritual leader, but I will set that aside for a moment.

However, I would like to take the opportunity to share a few points on this issue, with some of which Hillary may even agree. I cannot say. You will have to ask her yourself. After sharing these points, I will conclude this post with the story of a friend who also had to prove his “Jewishness.” Yet, I guarantee that you would never find such a story in the [Am] HaAretz newspaper, nor in any mainstream, Israeli news outlet.

First, my Esser Agaroth [10 ag'] on proving ones Jewishness....
1. We must all be held to the same standards. If Hillary Rubin must jump through hoops, then so should everyone else. My beard and payos should not make me nor anyone else an exception to any necessary scrutiny. One standard should not be used for Americans and another for sympathetic Jews from the Former Soviet Union who have little or no Jewish documents to support their claims.

I was surprised at the Rabbinate's reaction to Hillary's letters which included one from a Chabba”d rabbi. I have heard many cases when men had to bring two witnesses with them to the Rabbinate, in order to testify that the prospective hathan (groom) was, in fact, Jewish. Why was this method not employed for Hillary? Perhaps the Rabbinate had more details about the case than we. Certainly, we cannot count on the traditionally anti-Torah [Am] HaAretz newspaper to report on this case objectively. Nonetheless, I would be interested in knowing why this common procedure of bringing witnesses to testify on Hillary's behalf was not employed.

2. An overwhelmed Rabbinate with a back up of cases is no excuse for brushing people off, and telling people to convert. Sometimes photographs of Jewish grave markers combined with birth certificates of the Jew in question, his or her mother and maternal grandmother are requested. Yet, approach, too, needs to be presented in a sensitive manner. I agree with several of the points brought up on the Between Tel-Aviv And Jerusalem Blog. The tone of the rabbi(s) can have a big influence on the individual or couple with whom he is working. Will he succeed in sparking an interest in a non-religious couple to develop a connection with Torah community? Or will he turn-off such a couple completely? Yes, this is a big responsibility for [I can only assume] a rabbi who must turn over cases quickly. Yet, if we cannot count on the Rabbinate to step up to the plate, and accept its leadership role in this area, then who can we count on?

This sounds like a great opportunity to put many kollel participants to work, even for only a few hours a day each. It wouldn't cost anything. They are already getting paid. After all ולא המדרש הוא העיקר, אלא המעשה - אבות א,טז (The main point is the deed), right? Unfortunately, I doubt that many in the government want an increased presence of Haredim in the activities of the Chief Rabbinate, preferring to do what they can to break the “hold” they think the Rabbinate has on society. I also doubt that the Haredi leadership would be overjoyed over such a proposal either. Oh well.

3. There are a few sentences in Hillary's post which I found to be puzzling. Here is one:

If I'm Jewish enough to be hated by the world, I am Jewish enough to get married in the Jewish State. No one should EVER tell me otherwise.

This still does not answer the the question at hand. Sorry, Hillary, but this is not a halachic response to a halachic question. It is a rant.

Here is another:

Idiots will always be idiots. Haters will always hate. At the end of the day, I will still marry Craig and the Rabbanut cannot stop that.

I am not sure who she is talking about. I may disagree with the Israeli Chief Rabbinate at times, but I sincerely doubt they are idiots, and I equally doubt that they hate Hillary Rubin. Hillary, feelings are [mostly] irrelevant when it it comes to the halachic decision making process. In other words, when it comes to making a halachic decision,..."Just the facts, ma'am."

Another Story Of Proving Jewishness
I have a friend who lived in Israel under a work visa for a few years. While here, he mat an married his wife, a native Israeli. They were married through the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, and they lived happily ever after, right? Well, pretty much, but this friend of mine hit a snag. No, the snag was not with the Rabbinate. Even though he was relatively new to Torah observant life, he did what was necessary to prove his Jewishness, and was married. The snag came later with the Ministry of the Interior.

(To be fair, I had a very positive experience, applying for citizenship in Tel-Aviv with an apparently secular clerk, and with a kippah on my head. All that was required of me was a letter from my [Young Israel] rabbi,* and I was good to go.)

That was not the case for this friend of mine. Not only did he have his documents he had already presnted t the Rabbinate, he had is te'udath n'su'in (marriage certificate) and the kethubbah (traditional marriage contract) from his wedding. Yet, all this was not enough to prove his Jewishness for citizenship, which is a lesser standard than that for getting married?

My friend was being played. The fact that his kippah was crocheted and not black velvet did not make one bit of difference. He asked to jump through more than just hoops.

If he had presented a letter from a non-Torah observant spiritual leader, there never would have been a question. He simply would have been told to come back in 30 days to receive his te’udath zehuth (identification card) and “Mazal Tov!”

My friend's wife was a distant relative of the then Minster of Interior. My friend's file reached the minister's desk, yet even he was powerless to do anything about his case. Why? The minister may be able to set some policy and establish some changes in the way the Ministry operates. However, the civil servants are the ones who actually run things, and control the official stamps, file, and the flow of the paper pushing.

I recently found out that anyone converting in Israel must also go before a Ministry of Interior committee to receive approval for aliyah. This is apparently done to prevent people from taking advantage of the monetary rights of olim hadashim (new immigrants). Limits are also set on such a convert's right to work during the first year of residency. I am all for some kind of measures to be in place to aid in preventing conversion under false pretenses. But, what if this committee simply decides that is does not like you? Is that it? A Jew must leave the country, while foreign workers and their children may stay?

HaShem yishmor!

**********

*TIP: Orthodox Union [OU], Young Israel, and Chabba"d rabbis are found on separate lists. Before going to the Ministry of Interior, I called the Jewish Agency to make sure that my rabbi was on the list. They clerk had checked the OU list, and thus I was told that he was not on the list. Fortunately, I thought to have her check if there was a separate list for Young Israel rabbis.

Remember, proving that one is Jewish for the purpose of getting married through the Rabbanuth is a much higher standard. Citizenship is still based, more or less, on the Nuremberg Laws, and nothing to do with halachah.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Chaim Perlman To Be Released

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:29:00 +0000

Rosh Hodesh Ellul 5770

(Photo Credit: Moti Kimchi)

Itziq Sabban, writing in the Hebrew daily Israel Today, reported today that Chaim Perlman is expected to be released within two days.

Judge Nahum Sternlicht set down that...

"There is not any significant nor serious evidence in order to bring a conviction of the suspect (Perlman) for the cited offenses."

He further stated...

"I did not find any actual progress in the base investigation nor in the gathering of new evidence."

Let us pray that Chaim finally does come home!

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Torture And Abuse Continue Against Chaim Perlman

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:32:00 +0000

I was very upset to receive the following e-mail about a former neighbor of mine. Chaim and his wife are the epitomy of "nice," helping their neighbors and young couples getting started, without a second thought.

Chaim is the son of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are also no strangers to mesiruth nefesh (self-sacrifice). Chaim was in the process of finishing his B. A. in Education with the goal of being a physical education teacher.

Please help, by posting on your blogs, and otherwise distributing this information.

(Photo Credit: Moti Kimchi)

Shabak, Israel's Internal Security Agency Continues to Torture Perlman to Obtain a Confession

Honenu has recently taken on a high profile case. Chaim Perlman, age 30 who was once hired by the Shabak to provide information has enraged his handlers by releasing 20 hours of taped conversations to the public showing how the Shabak incited him to commit crimes against Arabs.

is being charged with a 1998 killing of two - four Arabs. Pearlman denied all the allegations and said in an interview recorded two days before his arrest and aired on Channel 2 that he was being framed. Perlman claimed the Shabak was taking revenge on him because he taped their conversations. His lawyer claimed that the Shabak has no evidence linking the crime to Perlman. In order to save face, the Shabak needs to obtain a confession. Many times in Israel, a confession is proof of guilt even if there is no evidence corroborating the confession and even if the evidence contradicts the confession. The Shabak denied Perlman a basic right, a meeting with his lawyer. It was 10 days after his arrest that Perlman was finally able to meet with his Honenu lawyer due to Honenu intervention and a ruling of Justice Edmond Levy. Perlman confided to his attorney of the torture he was enduring ie: being handcuffed for 18 hours a day, beatings etc. Now after 19 days under Shabak interrogation, Honenu is once again charging the Shabak with continued abuse.

Donate to make sure that Honenu can fight for a fair judicial process in Israel. Help us build a better Israel.

©2010 Honenu PO Box 2, Kiryat Arba 90100, Israel

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Red Cross Harbors Hamas Fugitives

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:29:00 +0000

I received the following from a friend of mine, Shmuel Sokol:

ICRC Harbors Hamas Fugitives
Samuel Sokol, Five Towns Jewish Times, July 22, 2010

The International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] stated Tuesday that it is knowingly sheltering three wanted fugitives from the Israeli police in its East Jerusalem headquarters. Ahmad Atoun, Khaled Abu Arafa, and Muhhamad Totach, all representatives of Hamas’ Change and Reform list in the Pales tinian Legislative Council [PLC], have camped out in the Sheikh Jarrah building since the June 30 rearrest of Hamas MP and former Al Qassam Brigades leader Muhhamad Abu Tir.

Dorothea Krimitsas, a spokeswoman for the ICRC, stated that the three men requested Red Cross “protection” from Israeli security forces and were informed that “they could remain on ICRC premises, but also that the ICRC could not prevent the Israeli authorities from taking action against them.”

All three are wanted by Israel for illegally residing in Jerusalem after the recent revocation of their blue residency cards. The cards were confiscated following their refusal to renounce their affiliation with Hamas. Without a repudiation of their membership, Israeli authorities warned, the four men face deportation. (Read more....)

I think it to be more telling, though, to read the ICRC's responses to Shmuel's questions,

Dear Mr. Sokol,

Here are my answers to your questions, which I copied below for the sake of clarity:

I would like the position of the Red Cross on this matter and to know if this is being done as a matter of policy.

On 1 July, the three persons (two PLC members and a former Minister for Jerusalem Affairs) asked the ICRC's delegation in Jerusalem to provide them with protection. They were told that they could remain on ICRC premises, but also that the ICRC could not prevent the Israeli authorities from taking action against them. (What's stopping Israel from "taking action?" Worries over bad PR?)

The ICRC has also been in contact with the Israeli authorities from the very beginning, asking them to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law:

- East Jerusalem is occupied territory, and the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are considered protected persons under international humanitarian law (Article 4 of the Fourth Geneva Convention).

- Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation to protect the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem and cannot lawfully undertake to forcibly transfer them from their homes. Under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, forcible transfers of protected persons are explicitly prohibited regardless of their motive.

Does the ICRC make a differentiation between the civilian and militant sides of Hamas and does it recognize Israel's categorization of all parts of the organization as terrorist entities?

It is not up to the ICRC, as a humanitarian organization, to confer a particular status on people or organizations or to recognize their legitimacy, neither does international humanitarian law. Under international humanitarian law – which is applicable in Israel and the occupied territories and is the law on which the ICRC's mandate and activities are based – everyone who is not a combattant (as defined in the Third Geneva Convention and in the First Additional Protocol), is a civilian.

In a recent study (A study? Study of what? Study with whom?), ICRC also interpreted (?!) that members of organized armed groups belonging to a party to the conflict lose protection against direct attack for the duration of their membership (i.e., for as long as they assume a continuous combat function). (http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/direct-participation-ihl-feature-020609) This principle of distinction is particularly relevant for the conduct of hostilities.

Has the ICRC been in touch with Israel in order to resolve this matter?
Yes. See my answer above.

I hope this information is helpful.

With best regards,

Dorothea Krimitsas

International Committee of the Red Cross
Media and Public Relations, Middle East
office +41 22 730 25 90, mobile +41 79 251 93 18
dkrimitsas@icrc.org

The ICRC - working to protect and assist people ~~affected by~~ involved in armed conflict and other situations of violence (...against Jews. Remember Terezinschadt?). Find out more: www.icrc.org

I think that Dorothea would like to get some additional feedback on this matter, don't you?

Additional related articles by Shmuel Sokol:
Hamas Four Renounce Their Party

Hamas Parliamentarians To Defy Israeli Ban

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Urgent Appeal: Pidyon Shevuyim - Free Jewish Prisoner Yosef Hai Tubal

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:01:00 +0000

12 Sivan 5770

From Yekuti'el Ben-Ya'akov:

Shalom,

I am making the journey to Jerusalem today, primarily to try and keep a good Jew out of prison.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Yosef Hai Tubal is due to appear before the prison authorities for a hearing in which he will most likely be sent back to prison for an additional two years of prison if he can not raise the 6,000 dollar fine that was imposed upon him, for his retaliatory nationalist crimes against Arabs (who were harrassing Jewish girls in Jerusalem) that he allegedly committed when he was a minor 6 years ago. He already sat in prison four years and was released after serving two thirds of his prison term. Yosef is now 23 years old, was recently married and is a father of a beautiful baby girl. Sending him back to prison at this time would destroy his family and his efforts to rebuild a normal life ofr himself and his family.

Anyone who would like to contribute to Yosef's defense, so that he can finally rebuild his life as a free man in Israel, is urged to make immediate contact with me to see how funds can be made immediately available, so that he can appear before the hearing with the necessary funds TOMORROW to prevent his imprisonment. Rabbi Ya'aqov Yosef and other resepected Rabbis have signed on an urgent letter appealing to the public to help in this mitzva.

6,000 dollars can buy two years of freedom for Yosef who lacks the resources to pay the fine.

I am in Jerusalem today and together with Yosef, we will come to any and all who have the ability to help - I will also facilitate anyone who wishes to contribute or to loan him the funds from afar.

Yekutiel

guzofskyyekutiel@gmail.com

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Judeo-Christian Values?

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:53:00 +0000

7th Candle of Hanukkah 5770

Dear Arutz 7 (Israel National News) Broadcaster,

Recently, I heard a broadcast of yours. It included an excellent interview, in which you were able to keep your guest focused and have him share a great deal of information in a relatively short period of time.

In the second segment of your show, there was another interesting interview. Yet, something odd caught my attention. You used the expression “Judeo-Christian values,” even though such values do not exist. Jewish values are based on Torah (that includes Oral Torah) and halachah (Jewish Law), items which Christians do not possess. Certainly I would agree that Jews and Christians share a few similarities. But, I could also say the same, if not more so, about Muslims. So, why not talk about Judeo-Islamic values?

No, the concept to which you were referring is an illusion, one which has developed over time during our in exile in the West, due to our vulnerability and desperately trying to survive both physically and spiritually in Galuth (diasporah) coupled with the poisonous influence of the Christians surrounding us.

So, why is it that you were using such an oxymoron of a term?

Well, I have come up with a few possible answers:

1. You really do believe in the existence of this concept, and have yet to discard this particular qelipah (counter-spiritual shell).

2. You have a very short memory, and have forgotten the Christian-based, anti-Semitism which encouraged Jews to seek out our own Homeland and culture, in the first place, OR has forced them further into the deep trenches of assimilation and sniveling co-dependence on the goyim.

3. Even though you are religious, and working for the sake of many important Torah-based endeavors, you have still fallen into the trap of today's version of Hellenism, the belief that some or all Western sensibilities are inherently compatible with Torah. (I recommend you take a serious look at this during this holiday of Hanukkah.)

4. You have received a directive from your management that you use this expression in your broadcasts in order to ~~exploit~~ attract Christian dollars to your radio station.

Considering the introduction to your show, which included instructions to listeners as to how to “support” the station financially, I would say it is the last of the four. (Although I would not rule out option number three so quickly either.)

In line with said instructions, when potential contributers are contacted, some of their background information is, no doubt, revealed. You are able to get a general idea as to whom your listeners are, from where they hail, and which deities they worship, thus providing your station with sufficient feedback as how best to ~~flatter~~ placate them.

Certainly, you must also be able to obtain relatively precise information as to how much of Arutz 7's funding comes from Christians (...and thus how much of a conflict of interest Arutz 7 may appear to have).

I would guess that your managers have actually rationalized that it is better to take money from ovdei avodah zarah (practicioners of foreign worship; Mishnah Torah, Hil. Avodah Zarah 9:4 ), for the greater good of continuing your broadcasts to, as well as on behalf of, Religious Zionists and residents of Yehudah and Shomron (Judea and Samaria).

Now that we Jews are able to resettle our promised Homeland, we have no excuse but let go of our co-dependence on the goyim, and change strategies.

The doors to Eretz Yisra'el have been opened for Jews, but seeing the miracles done for us, and the prophesies being fulfilled, the Christians are also knocking on the door, begging, borrowing, and stealing their ways in.

They are developing their own strategies to obtain residency and even citizenship. Some send their children to “volunteer” in the IDF. Some set up “charitable” foundations, with the intention of "helping" us. Some even do so with the heksher of rabbis. There are Christians "helping" us in Ari'el, Itamar, Har Brachah, and Qedumim, among others. "Helping" us do what, I would like to know. And why do we need their help? I would like to know that as well.

How are any of these sneaky strategies to steal our inheritence, to get a foothold on our Holy Land, to pollute our Holy Land by spreading the worship of their false deity, and stealing our children's souls, in the least bit related to “Jewish values?”

So-called Christian Zionist, or Christian "Friends of Israel" are, at the very least, passive missionaries, and the very worst, better liars than active missionaries.

How will Arutz 7 report the sneaky, yet not so secret plans, of the Likud Party, and possibly some within the Jewish Agency (confirmation needed) itself to bring Christians to settle in Israel.

How will your station's acceptance of Christian funds influence your reporting? Will you just ignore it?

And just two more questions, please:

1. How much [or how little] does Rabbi Zalman Melamed know of your station's use
of the term "Judeo-Christian Values?"

2. How much [or how little] does
Rabbi Zalman Melamed know of your station's acceptance of Christian money?

They, too, believe they are doing this for the greater good,...even though we Jews “do not yet realize it.”

But, what's the harm in taking their money?

Simple. You're letting them get a foot in the door, you are taking their "we're your friends" bait, hook, line, and sinker, and thus you are aiding and abetting Esau (Christians/U. S./UN/EU/the West - who truly hates Ya'aqov). These liars may lie differently than Yishma'el (Arabs/Muslims) but they still lie. And, you are truly a co-dependent freier (sucker), if you think Esau will ever really be our friend. He wants his birthright back; he wants his b'rachoth back (See B'reishith 25 & 27).

It is forbidden to allow them to gain any foothold on our Land (Mishnah Torah, Hil. Avodah Zarah 10).

Esau is the pig, throwing out its forelegs to show you its split hooves; he is the pig moving its jaw up and down, pretending to chew his cud. He cries out, "Look at me! I'm kosher!" Yet, he's as treif as they come!

Since 1400's Spain (at least), we have attempted to pacify, reach out to, and assimilate amongst Christians to some degree or another, in order to reassure them that we are no threat to them, and even “just like them,” believing this to be our only strategy for survival while in Western Galuth. Aligning ourselves with them against Yishma'el is just today's version of this.

This strategy has never worked.

“Insanity is repeating the same thing over again, expecting different results.” -Albert Einstein

May your managers receive a complete speedy recovery from this insanity.

There are no such things as "Judeo-Christian Values."

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Palestinian Sympathy Fatigue II

noreply@blogger.com (GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:24:00 +0000

Well, well -- wail! News that the so nice - he be nom d'guerr'd twice! Abu Mazen/M'Moud Abbas -- the President of the West Bank and the rocket rich Strip turf (collectively called Palestine) is ready to jettison the escape pod and high tail it for his super swanky beach front villa in Q'Tar.

Saw that one a mile away. Just like the happy happy fact that HAMAS couldn't get re elected as grave diggers in the Strip now.

What a dang shame.

Both Satans' seem to look at the fast creation of a magical Nakbah free nation state of Palestine regardless of the Palestinians’ unwillingness to accept Little Satan's right to exist as the primary aim of their Palestinian policies.

Hip and haunch with calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state seem to actually increase in direct proportion to the radicalization of Palestinian society:

The more radical Palestinian society becomes, the hotter the hot wicked desire to grant it sovereign statehood.

Sovereign statehood and Palestinians have never really seemed to hook up. Like their Arab brethern, Palestinians have consistently sour mouthed that Little Satan's property posse that 'occupied' precious Palestinian turf with an amazing immodestly, lack of restraint and blitzkrieg tactics is the main problem.

Yet - predictably enough -- Palestinian Sympathy Fatigue may be the new (same as the old) thang:

"There is no romance, no sex, no excitement, no urgency — not even a sense of importance anymore."

Essentially because -- there is precious little in it for Great Satan. Would creating the world's 58th and 59th mohammedist or Arab League's 23rd and 24th nation state sweetly usher in a new error free era of peace, tolerance and get with it ness?

Would Little Satan be able to host Great Satan's Air Force or Teufel Hunden at state of the art bases, kassernes or cantonments? Would Palestine? And what would a future Palestine look like anyway? Yet another tribalistic kleptocracy or a really cool version of an Arabic Little Satan - complete with real elections, free press, consenual gov, indy judiciaries and egalitarian concerns?

"The way for the Palestinians to get a state is to go ahead and build it. If and when the institutions are there and functioning, from police and courts to a parliament, negotiations will reflect that fact.

"The argument that settling the borders and removing Little Satan's troops must come first is a path to failure. For one thing, Little Satan will not and should not leave until it is clear that the West Bank can be policed by Palestinians and that the region will not be a source of terrorism, as Gaza and South Lebanon became when Little Satan left there.

"No conference and no treaty can provide such a guarantee; only functioning Palestinian police forces that are already fighting and defeating terror can do so.

"It would press the Arab states to help real live Palestinians in the West Bank, rather than the imaginary Palestinians--all either bold jihadists or desperate widows and orphans--whom they see on Al Jazeera.

"In fact, except for occasional visits by Jordanians and Egyptians (who have peace treaties with Little Satan already), top Arab officials haven't a clue what's going on in the West Bank, for they've never been there. Not one head of state or government or foreign minister, not once.

"Organize a tour; take a few princes and foreign ministers to Ramallah, Jenin and Jericho where they would find that they are neither in Somalia nor some heroic battle scene against Zionist oppressors.

As Palestine's dual d'nom'd daddy says: "In West Bank we have a good reality… the people are living a normal life.”

Despite Goldstone Report, Willie P or rowdy rocketeers -- nearly everyone in free societies (except for maybe the MOST depraved Realist on the planet) is suffering from Palestinian Sympathy Fatigue.

Sweet!

Pic - "Don't wanna be accursed! Won't the last girl or the 1st to tell me i should go str8 2 Hale"

Can There Be Any Doubt About The YeSh"A Council?

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:57:00 +0000

8 Marheshwan 5770

This article from Israel National News (italics) is interspersed with my comments.

Barak Lauds Wallerstein on Mutiny
Gil Ronen, October 25, 2009

(IsraelNN.com) Defense Minister Ehud Barak reacted Sunday to the “Kotel mutiny” in which soldiers at a swearing-in ceremony protested the IDF's eviction policy, saying that he viewed it “very gravely.”

"However,” he added, “Yesh"a Council Director Pinchas Wallerstein's sharp reaction against the deed was in my eyes the right voice of the settlers in Yehudah (Judea) and Shomron (Samaria).”

One compliment from Ehud Barak says it all....

In an interview on Voice of Israel government radio, Wallerstein called the soldiers' action “unforgivable.”

Can there now be any doubt in anyone's minds where Wallerstein's priorities are? Can there be any doubt about his conflicts of interest? Can there be any doubt about his being a government collaborator?

The so-called YeSh"A Council is suppose to encourage the settlement of Yehudah and Shomron, not discourage it, and certainly not support any enterprise which discourages it or, worse, destroys it.

Because of such soldiers, some Jewish strongholds still stand. Why would Wallerstein want to put them down? If he secretly supports them, why would this want to bury the truth? The truth is that Pinhas Wallerstein cares first and foremost for Pinhas Wallerstein, second for Pinhas Wallerstein, and third for Ofra, the town in which he resides.

Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, Head of the Hesder Yeshiva at Elon Moreh and a member of the Judea and Samaria Council, voiced support Saturday for the soldiers and demanded that Wallerstein resign his post.

Rabbi Levanon is one of the rabbis who knows which takes precedence, Torah Law or man-made laws, and is not ashamed to express it. Barukh HaShem we have [real] rabbis like him.

"I call upon every soldier to reveal his views in public,” Levanon urged. “Clear value-oriented statements by soldiers are a clear sign of the general public feeling against the eviction of any Jews from their home.”

Encouraging freedom of speech? See how dangerous such truth-bearing rabbis are?

The Yesh"a Council is made up of local government chiefs in Yehudah and Shomron and claims to represent the Jewish population in those regions.

So true is the manner in which Gil Ronen phrases this last sentence. The YeSh"A Council is self-chartered, self-perpetuating, and self-serving. The rare, decent members, like Rabbi Levanon, stick around only in an attempt to facilitate positive change. Unfortunately, they spend most of their time doing damage control.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

*********

Don't forget to watch the documentary "Meraglim" (Spies) if you haven't already done so. This 40 minute video exposes the collaboration of the YeSh"A Council with the Israeli government during the Expulsion from Azza in the summer, 2005.

The Price Of "Arab" Olives

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:19:00 +0000

7 Marheshwan 5770

I have written about Jews getting pushed around over the masiq (olive harvest) so many times, I have decided to add an "Olive Harvest" label to Esser Agaroth.

Each fall, Jews are kicked out of their homes, have their movements restricted, separated from their families and jobs, for fear of interference in the Yishma'eli (Arab) harvest of olives on Land which is not even theirs.

Army Bans Land of Israel Activists From Home
Hillel Fendel 24 Tishrei 5770/12 October 09 04:41

(IsraelNN.com) In response to the abrupt announcement that three activists may not return to their homes in Samaria for six months, residents say leftists have taken over the army’s Central Command.

Early Monday morning, IDF Central District Commander Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni issued orders banning two prominent Land of Israel activists from returning to their homes, or anywhere in the Shomron (Samaria), for the next six months. The two are Ariel Gruner and Akiva HaCohen, both fathers of four children and residents of Yitzhar in the Shomron.

This is not the first time for either of them: In July 2006, Gruner - whose youngest son is now ten days old - was placed in prison for seven weeks under administrative detention orders generally employed against Arab terrorists. He was then placed under “caravan arrest” in a small Jordan Valley community for three months, followed by a three-month ban on entering Judea and Samaria. In August 2008, HaCohen was banned from the Shomron, where he lives, for four months.

A Third Expellee
Several hours later, Shamni issued similar orders against a third Yitzhar resident, Eliav Eliyahu, 19, who has been married for less than a year.

The official explanation for the latest orders: “Information has been received of their involvement in violent and illegal activity… and in light of the genuine danger foreseen from them to security and public order.” (Read more...)

"Information?" What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?! Where's the "evidence?" Oh, that's right they don't have any, and they don't need any.

MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) criticized what he called the “thought police,” and asked why it is that pro-Arab activists and anarchists in the Bil’in and Naalin protests “who throw rocks at soldiers” never receive such orders.

MK Ben-Ari, I believe have the answer to that. "They" (the Israeli Government) side with Yishme'el (Arabs) and Esau (The West/Christians), and have forsaken the Land of Israel, for they have no connection to it. "They" are Erev Rav.

"They" have no clue and no connection with the Torah, which clearly predicts...

דברים ו
י וְהָיָה כִּי יְבִיאֲךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב--לָתֶת לָךְ: עָרִים גְּדֹלֹת וְטֹבֹת, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-בָנִיתָ. יא וּבָתִּים מְלֵאִים כָּל-טוּב, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-מִלֵּאתָ, וּבֹרֹת חֲצוּבִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא-חָצַבְתָּ, כְּרָמִים וְזֵיתִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא-נָטָעְתָּ; וְאָכַלְתָּ, וְשָׂבָעְתָּ.

Deuteronomy 6
10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land which He swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee--great and goodly cities, which thou didst not build, 11 and houses full of all good things, which thou didst not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which thou didst not hew, vineyards and olive-trees, which thou didst not plant, and thou shalt eat and be satisfied--

No, we are prevented from fulfilling our destiny, not only to take full possession of the heart of our homeland, but also to reap its benefits.

After living in Binyamin and the Shomron, I can attest to the fact that 100 percent of the olives never get picked. Even if I approved of sharing with the Yishma'elim, which I most certainly do not, there are plenty of olives to go around.

Ideally, Jews would go into the groves in full force, harvest everything, and have an amazing stockpile of organic olive oil for food, medicinal purposes, cosmetics, and for export.

Instead Jews are removed from their homes, families, land, and jobs, while Yishma'elim are given free reign to harvest the olives on our Land, in contradiction to countless sources in Jewish Law.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

*********

Ariel at The Torah Revolution has this to say: Just Look At Him.

*********

It has been suggested that if you think there's something wrong here, then contact every Israeli politician you know, including Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense: (dover@mod.gov.il) fax: 011 972- 2-649-6545; Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: memshala@it.pmo.gov.il, Fax: 011 972 -2- 563-2580; the Israeli Embassy in Washington: Tel: 202-364-5500; Deputy Chief of Mission: Dan Arbell, Fax: (202) 364-5560; Defense and Armed Forces Attaché Major General Benjamin Gantz Tel: (202) 364-5403 Fax: (202) 364-5503.

Jew Encouraging Ascension To The Temple Mount Incurs Intimidation From Police

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:52:00 +0000

23 of the Seventh Month/Isru Hag 5770

From Yosef Meir, Hoshana Rabba, 7:46 AM (edited)

Before dawn I was standing outside the entrance to the Kotel
(Western Wall) area calling upon the masses of Jews flowing into the are, to go up in purity to the Temple Mount. As I prepared to enter the security checkpoint to get into the Kotel to daven shachrit (pray the morning prayers), I was detained by the police for about 20 minutes and they only let me enter the Kotel plaza on condition that I not speak about the Temple Mount to anyone. They told me if I was caught speaking about Jewish ascent to the Mount I would be immediately arrested.

During the detention the police told me that if masses of Jews would be attempting to go up to the Temple Mount it would change the situation in our favor. The greater the pressure on police to open the Temple Mount to Jews, the greater the chance it will be open. Facts on the ground.

We must start a worldwide pressure campaign. We need serious activists from all over the world to come forward and help.

Let me know if you want to help and what area you are in.

Double standards on free speech, double standards on the Holiest site to the Jewish People, police intimidation... Still think Israel is a democracy?

It's a deMOCKracy.

Join the תפילת יהודית על הר הבית - עצומה- Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount Petition group on Facebook.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Beware Of Governments Bearing Gifts: Israeli GPO To Begin Issuing Press Credentials To Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:19:00 +0000

Erev Rosh HaShanah 5770

Tomer Devorah alerted me to the following:

Media Credentials for Top Israeli Bloggers

Erev Rosh HaShanah 5770/September 18, 2009, 10:49 AM

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office will acknowledge the growing power of bloggers by providing writers of the most popular blogs with media credentials, according to Maariv. The credentials would allow the bloggers to enter news conferences and similar events.

The initiative was first revealed at the Second International Jewish Bloggers Convention this week by Ron Dermer of the Prime Minister's Office, who said it will take some time to implement the program. PMO officials will first spend months investigating various blogs and determining which of Israel's popular bloggers should be offered credentials.

Full story

As I understand it, this parashah was initiated by Jameel Rasheed @ The Muqata blog, when he made a public request for press credentials at the aforementioned convention:

"...Therefore, the logical question I asked was if the Israeli government wants our help to "Defend Israel" through the JBlogosphere (and we gladly help), why can't we get [Government Press Office] GPO Press Credentials? I was surprised that so many people applauded the question. Dermer promised he would take care of it. To help him with his promise -- if you are a serious blogger, drop me an email and I'll put together a request list to him....."

The way I see it, the key word in the above news report is "investigating." Call it K'far Tapu'ah Paranoia, if you must. I choose to call it necessary suspicion of the government.

I have no problem with Jameel's request. If he receives press credentials, then more power to him. However, I believe we must keep this policy in perspective.

The Erev Rav controlled, Israeli government is running scared. The ratio of Haredim in the Israeli population continues to increase, as is that of religious Jews, in general. The majority of second-graders who started school this year are religious. The percentage of officers in the IDF who identify as religious is the greatest it has ever been, and continues to increase each year.

Yet, every time the Torah world attempts to assert its influence, the Israeli Supreme Court immediately shoots it down.

The government knows that it's only a matter of time before they will no longer be able to keep up the resistance.

Eventually they will have no choice but to take increasingly drastic measures, in a futile attempt to prevent the inevitable.

The Erev Rav controls the mainstream Israeli media. The center-right Jerusalem Post is sometimes critical of the government, but does sufficient bashing of Haredim and settlers to keep it off its back.

The last thing the Israeli government needs is a set of independent critics with access to government officials. They know what we have in mind, and they don't like it one bit.

If granted access to press conferences and other assorted events, we will do the one thing of which the Israeli goverment is terrified.

We will be asking questions, and not just any questions, but the questions they don't want to be asked, let alone answer in public. We will be asking the questions to which they do not even know the answers, causing them great public embarrassment. We will be asking "them" to justify their actions. We will be putting "them" under the microscope, and adding the information we gather to our posts publicizing the truth to Jews outside of Israel, keeping them informed as to what is really taking place here.

There is no question that not just any blogger will be granted press credentials. Oh sure, there may be one token they will be able to brand as a nut job in an attempt to discredit other bloggers they do not like. But don't expect any great revelations in freedom for the press with this new policy. No, the powers that be will be using this as an opportunity to "investigate" us.

Fellow blogger Nati of Mystical Paths has already been "visited" by the Shabba"k (General Security Service AKA: "Secret Police") over his writings.

There was a time when I figured that the powers that be did not take English speaking blogs seriously. We're just a bunch of ideological nuts,...regardless of ideological flavor.

Well, there is no doubt that "they" know we're on the map. Whether "they" think we are a threat to them, only time will tell. What we do know is that instead of flying under the radar, the radar will, at least periodically, be focused on us.

Beware of governments bearing gifts.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Bride Of Palestine

noreply@blogger.com (GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:46:00 +0000

“Unfeeling, heartless creator! You had endowed me with perceptions and passions, and then cast me abroad, an object for the scorn and horror of mankind”

At the fateful glacier meeting betwixt Dr F and his handbuilt critter, commissions are engaged to create a helpmate for it. Later, Viktor recants - fearing that unsafe sex may in fact create “a race of devils . . . on the earth.”

Kinda like "Ye Olde Land For Peace" con that hath reared it's pointy little head yet again.

HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal of Wahabbi Arabia summons shades and specters with an interesting bit that pretty much says the heck with Palestine and Little Satan

"Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Mohammedism the custodian of its two holy mosques, the world’s energy superpower and the de facto leader of the Arab and Muslim worlds — that is why our recognition is greatly prized by Little Satan. However, for all those same reasons, the kingdom holds itself to higher standards of justice and law.

"It must therefore refuse to engage Little Satan until she ends her illegal occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights as well as Shabaa Farms in Lebanon.

"For Saudis to take steps toward diplomatic normalization before this land is returned to its rightful owners would undermine international law and turn a blind eye to immorality."

This is significant - and brazenly hollow. After all, Little Satan split the Strip way back in 2005. Where were the Kingdom's Higher Standards then? What tactical and strategic designs did this ME powerhouse exude then?

HRH Turki goes on to point out how awesome Land For Peace was betwixt Little Satan and Pyramidland yet only after Little Satan repented for siezing Egyptian turf in a series of desperate counter attacks in response to a secret attack by several Arab Leaguers against a democratic member of UN and promised to return every inch of sweetly acquired real estate booty.

Listing Gaza along with West Bank and the petite Shee Bah Farms (Har Dov in Little Satan speak) is suspect.

Land first -- then Peace.

YAWN

That faux school idea is sooo played.

Look -- since Nazi time Deutschland and Imperial Nippon screamed "God! Please! Stop!" over a 100 borders have been moved, dreamed up and established - and they didn't satisfy everybody -- yet -- an agreed upon border is way more better than generations of blood shed over turf.

Basing more polices RE: Palestine around mythic narratives of Little Satan's hedonistic appropriations for the Arab World's problems is retarded and are based on incorrect conclusions. So far, the redux'd land for peace has not only totally failed to resolve the problem - it has made it worse.

Everywhere Little Satan splits - intolerant (and currently Iranian fed and funded) rocket rich rejectionists tend to move in like HAMAS in the Strip and Hiz'B'Allah beyond Lebanon's 'Blue Line'.

High time to reassess, redress and stress that Little Satan ain't the problem.

Palestinian and Arab rejection of Little Satan's right to exist is.

Art "Bride of Palestine"

Mad Scientists

noreply@blogger.com (GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:05:00 +0000

'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things:"

In the crunk and disorderly world of academia -- the 'Cult of Irrelevance" -- there is a particular field called IR. Meaning Internat'l Relations, IR exists counterminously with real time - historical and current events sweetly mingle with future projections and the foreign policy theories theoretically theorized therein can actually drive one batty.

As in mad.

While decorum prohibits (think a thong at church) listing all the wicked, weak minded warping tomes, scrolls and syllabi that defeatist succubi and incubi imbibe -- here's one of several Mad Scientists to be on the lookout for.

Palestinian fanboy Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi is a down right mean Little Satan hating agent.

Dr K routinely enjoyed sucking up to the old school Palestinian terror cats like the Palestine Loseration Organization at the same incredible instant PLO was doing anti-Western terrorism and earned an especial place on Great Satan's Official Enemies List.

Specifically -- rowdy revisionist Rashid doubled as director of the official PLO press agency WAFA in Beirut from 1976 to 1982

Despite Palestinian Sympathy Fatigue

"Although the Palestinians have no state, they have two toothless governments. The behavior of both sides has been disgraceful."

The real cause of all the world's ills are in fact Great and Little Satan's fault.

Such bass ackwardsness is risible in extremis

"It is high time that we speak out against the immoral and undemocratic policies of our government in the Middle East. U.S. policy in the Middle East will never be successful if it does not base itself on universally respected principles of international law and universally recognized values."

Dr Rashid Khaladi's work -- which is actually a study in Dual Loyalties -- to be on the look out for include:

British Policy towards Syria and Palestine, 1906-1914. Ithaca Press for St. Antony's College, 1980.

Palestine and the Gulf (Co-editor), Institute for Palestine Studies, 1982.
Under Siege: PLO Decision-making during the 1982 War. Columbia University Press, 1986.
The Origins of Arab Nationalism (Co-editor), Columbia University Press, 1991.
Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness, Columbia University Press, 1997.
Eugene L. Rogan & Avi Shlaim, ed (2007) [1st ed. 2001].
"The Palestinians and 1948: the underlying causes of failure".
The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948 (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521699341..
Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America's Perilous Path in the Middle East, Beacon Press, 2004.
The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood. Beacon Press. 2006.
Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East, Beacon Press, 2009.

Pic - "If there is to be a resolution of the Palestine problem, it depends on the Palestinians' understanding the massive disadvantages they labor under in fighting a struggle for liberation against the heirs of the victims of the Holocaust, in the growing shadow of worldwide mohammedismphobia."

BBC 4 Interview: Shira and Daniel Gil'ad, Ramath Migron

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:22:00 +0000

11 Ellul 5769

Tipped off by Rafi at Life In Israel, I feel this video is well-worth re-posting.

BBC Channel 4 News interviews newlyweds Shira and Daniel Gil'ad of Ramath Migron, north of Jerusalem. Shira and Daniel actually met on Ramath Migron, and have returned as a married couple to continued their important work.

Shira is a daughter of fellow blogger David Morris of Ramath Beth Shemesh, who brought this interview to our attention on his Tzedek-Tzedek blog.

Shira did all of the speaking, being the the native English speaker of the two. I thought that she came off very well.

As most of you know I am against PR/Hasbarah. (Who cares what the goyim think?!) That being said, I thought that the content of what Shirah said was clear and informative to those who don't have a clue as to the truth of what actually goes on in Israel. Shira was successful in conveying important messages, even in spite of the biased comments of the news reporter and anchor.

I especially like how it was mentioned that Shira was proud of her grandparents being decorated by the Queen for their charity work. However, when she was in England a few years ago, she felt as if something was missing, and that she belonged in Israel.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Hello?! There Already Is A Ban On Land Sales To Arabs!

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:18:00 +0000

11 Ellul 5769

Rabbis Meeting to Consider a Ban on Selling Houses to Arabs
Gil Ronen, 10 Ellul 5769/August 30, 2009, 7:40 PM

(IsraelNN.com) Hareidi and national-religious rabbis will meet Monday in Jerusalem to discuss ways of dealing with the Arab influx into Jewish neighborhoods in northern Jerusalem, as well as the purchasing of agricultural land in the Galilee by wealthy foreign Arabs.
The rabbis are expected to call for an end to the phenomenon of sale of land and houses by Jews to Arabs. The organizer, Aryeh King, who heads the Israel Lands Fund, told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service that he is hoping to see the rabbis issue a pronouncement that sale of land and houses to Arabs is forbidden....

This is awfully frustrating, as we already have such a law (see sources below). It is a shame such a meeting even needs to take place.

However, since Rabbi Ya'aqov Yosef and Rabbi Shmu'el Eliyahu, legitimate halachic authorities, are said to be involved, I have confidence that this meeting will be used as a some sort of strategy to publicize the 3,300 year old halacha mid'Oraitha.

Unfortunately, I must offer the prediction that this will be on the first stage in the next set of battles between Torah and anti-Torah Israeli laws. The Israeli Supreme Court will undoubtedly decry "racism."

In recent years, we have already seen the Israeli Supreme Court order the Chief Rabbinate around with regard to kashruth (dietary laws) certification. We have also seen prominent rabbis, such as Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, arrested for daring to discuss halachoth (Jewish laws) which appear to be in contradiction of Israeli law.

Stay tuned...

רמב"ם הלכות עבודה זרה פרק י
ד [ג] אין מוכרין להם בתים ושדות, בארץ ישראל; ובסוריה, מוכרין להם בתים, אבל לא שדות. ומשכירין להם בתים בארץ ישראל, ובלבד שלא יעשם שכונה--ואין שכונה, פחותה משלושה. ואין משכירין להם שדות; ובסוריה, משכירין להם שדות. ומפני מה החמירו בשדה: מפני שיש בה שתיים--מפקיעה מן המעשרות, ונותן להם חניה בקרקע

Ramba"m: Laws of Foreign Worship 10
4 [3] One does not sell them houses or fields in Eretz Yisrael; but in Suriyah one may sell them houses, but not fields. One may rent them houses in Eretz Yisrael, provided that one does not make them a neighborhood -- and there is no neighborhood with less than three [households]. One does not rent them fields; but in Suriyah one rents them fields. And why were they strict regarding fields? For two reasons -- [because they would] expropriate the tithes and be allowed to settle the land.

The negative commandments "do not make a covenant with foreign worshipers" and "do not have mercy on them" come directly from Deuteronomy.

דברים ז,ב ונתנם יהוה אלהיך, לפניך--והכיתם: החרם תחרים אתם, לא-תכרת להם ברית ולא תחנם

Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them.

For additional information on these negative commandments, you can download the shi'urim (audio) given by Rabbi David Bar-Hayim, part 1 and part 2.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

With "Zionist" Rabbis Like This, Who Needs Neturei Karta?

noreply@blogger.com (Esser Agaroth) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:15:00 +0000

28 b'Av 5769

Tensions at Bnei Adam; Waiting for Rabbi Levinger
Hillel Fendel, 23 b'Av/August 13, 2009, 5:16 PM

(IsraelNN.com) Despite reports to the contrary, former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu has not issued an opinion on whether the residents of Bnei Adam should go along with the decision to remove three caravans from their outpost.
On the other hand, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, one of the leading rabbis of the religious-Zionist camp for over 40 years, has ruled that they should.

The residents themselves do not feel bound by this decision (GOOD!), however, and have gone to consult with Rabbi Moshe Levinger of Hevron instead. “I don’t believe he will say that we should leave,” said long-time Yesha activist and settlement pioneer Daniella Weiss, “as it is clear what this would mean in terms of [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu’s plan to allow a Palestinian state to be established here.” (Read more....)

Everyone is now waiting with baited breath for Rabbi Levinger's ruling.

C'mon! It's not rocket science. Our own Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah [Kook] ztz"l sure didn't think it was.

One must do everything in order to delay and prevent the evacuation of Jewish strongholds.
- Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook ztz"l

When I little known rabbi in Ofra, Rabbi Elitzur HaLevy Seg"el, quoted this back in 2002 in response to the IDF's expulsion of Jews from Havath Gil'ad on Shabbath, there was great outrage. Even though Rabbi Sege"l, too was a student at Merkaz HaRav Yeshivah, while Rabbenu Tzvi Yehudah was the rosh yeshivah in the 1980's.

Who the heck is he?
I've never heard of him?
Of course, one may only learn the teachings of Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah from Rabbi Tau, Rabbi Aviner, or Rabbi Druckman.

Who the hell made up that rule? I'll tell you who: The students of Rabbi Tau, Rabbi Aviner, and Rabbi Druckman, selectively leaving out Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Zalman Melamed, and Rabbi Moshe Tzuri'el.

How convenient. But it gets worse. They have also attempted to hijack the works of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhaq Kook ztz"l by stating that one may only learn his Torah from his son, and thus only from the rabbis mentioned above. Some of Rav Kook's work was suddenly discovered in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshivah, after certain rabbis had left the yeshivah. It is no coinsidence that some of this work appears to contracict much of comes out of the Mamlakhti camp.

When Rabbi Dov Lior (Hevron-Qiriyath Arba) and Rabbi Zalman Melamed (Beth-El) four full years later, no one was as courageous to shoot down the statements of two of Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah's very prominent students. Then Shlomo Aviner came along, and insisted on declaring that Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah never explicitly said "to refuse orders."

Although Rabbi Melamed walks a very careful line Beth-El for the sake of "shalom" in that town, he could not stand idly by after this statement of Aviner's. In the b'Sheva Hebrew weekly, he made the following statement, without mentioning any names.

"Rabbeinu Tzvi Yehudah did not have to say 'refuse orders,' as he said 'everything.' Anyone who ever learned by him and knew him should know that." (paraphrase)

During the last days in Azza, Rabbi Aviner and other like-minded rabbis were stationed in Neveh Deqalim synagogues keeping an eye on residents who were unknowingly being prepared for their final expulsion (Deep inside, Neveh Deqalim residents could probably feel what was coming). It is crucial to keep this fresh in all of our minds.

Rabbis Lior and Melamed, on the other hand, were barricaded on the roof of the synagogue in K'far Darom. Only when they heard that they were the last ones standing. I believe this was not a caving into the government, but rather like the decision of Rabbi Yohanan, who, acknowledging the reality of the situation, knew that Jerusalem had fallen and the there was nothing left to be done, save for damage control (Avoth d'Rabbi Nathan).

Some have suggested that we all have "our own rabbis."

So, then which rabbis would you follow?

The ones with the money, the publicity machine, and the cameras and microphones constantly at their heels, who see no contradiction between Torah and Israeli Law?

Or ones who place Torah Law before all else, contradiction or not, the ones whose "rulings" are supported by halachic sources, and hold up to scrutiny?

Here is a final note, regarding the B'nei Adam stronghold itself. In this video, Zambish Hever, head of Amana, encouraging the residents to leave B'nei Adam, instead of encouraging them to stay, like you would expect those connected with the Yesh"a Council to do.

Those hold up in the structure slated for removal are yelling various things at him, including, "You destroyed Gush Qatif!" "Put your head down!" and "Take off your kippah!"

Could the tide be changing? Could Jews be waking up, seeing who is a traitor, and fighting back? Or is this attitude still limited to the outposts surrounding Hevron and Shchem?

Update:

Bnei Adam Clash Dissipates – For Now
Hillel Fendel, 26 b'Av/August 16, 2009, 1:33 PM

(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Moshe Levinger of Hevron ruled that a fight for an outpost can’t be waged without the agreement of the residents – who haven’t decided yet. (Read more...)

I suppose that is a reasonable ruling,... on the surface. Now we will have to see who appears on the seen to try to influence the decisions of the residents.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

Spy Wars II

noreply@blogger.com (GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 01:35:00 +0000

As Natan Sharansky pointed out in the essential "Case For Democracy," unfree regimes and (by dangerous extrapolation) non state and semi state intolerant militias and rocket rich 'Resistance Movements' (with an amazing ability to resist their own legit govs way more than any foreign hanky panky) need 2 things to hang on and hope for the best:

External Enemies - Like o, say - Great Satan - and her democrazy little sister - Little Satan.

And - Internal Enemies. Like girls, facebook, free choice, human rights - and spies -- real or imagined.

Like the rocket rich rejectionist control freaks in Hiz'B'Allah. Led by the creepy Body Part Collector General, HBA -- the most proficient killers and serial tormentors of Americans in history til 911 time -- recently stymied in Lebanon's electile dysfunction with yet another attempt to gain legitimacy while seducing a segue fusing a real nation state with an operational terrorist group.

So -- HBA is doing the deal about spies. Spies here -- spies there -- all working for Little Satan of course.

"Lebanese OTV network, owned by politician Michel Aoun, reported that the army had broken into a structure in Jabal al-Baruch in April and found equipment suspected of serving Israeli intelligence.

"The report said the army had intervened after receiving intelligence regarding an “illegal internet company” operating within its borders.

"The alleged discovery is the most recent victory claimed by Hezbollah in its current battle against what it claims are Israeli espionage rings operating in Lebanon.

"The organization also boasts the arrest of dozens of alleged spies, one of whom was recently sentenced to life in prison by a Lebanese military court.

Oh Snap! Illegal Internet Activities?

While it's true Little Satan recently used some kind of cyber chicanery to strike Syria's not so secret tender portions -- and the nigh instant severing of Internet landlines in Syria even outlawing Face Book made a good case -- most likely this is a fake believe incident designed to bolster slagging support for HBA at home.

Like General Sec's own facebook account.

Using Har Dov (Shee Bah Farms in Arabic) -- an after the show ho taken as righteous real estate booty back in the day -- as a very unconvincing raison d'etre for HBA's continued 'resistance,' collection of weaponry stocks and continued defiance of UN Reso#1701 (PDF).

8 square miles of contested turf (22 kilometers squared - 'bout the size of 4 Super Walmarts with attendent periphery retail spots) anywhere else on earth could be negotiated without militias -- though in a hood where 'honor' is often found betwixt a girl's legs - all bets are off.

Art - "Nasrallah is the cedar in our Lebanese flag, the master of us all" by Disturbingly Yellow