"Two Forms of Kiddush Hashem"

19 Shevat 5786

Erev Shabbat Kodesh

Parashat Yitro 

(Excerpted from Parashat Yitro: Two forms of Kiddush Hashem by Daniel Pinner)

...Pharaoh and Yitro, then, are the two paradigms for Kiddush Hashem.  They were both forced to recognise the falseness of polytheism, both were forced to acknowledge that Hashem, God of the Hebrews, is the sole true God.  They achieved this understanding in very different ways – the one through his evil, the other through honest enquiry; the one against his will, the other whole-heartedly and joyfully; the one by attempting to exterminate Israel, Hashem’s nation, the other by hearing about their salvation and rejoicing in it; the one by being destroyed by Hashem, the other by embracing Him.

But despite their polar differences, both these men, both leaders of their respective nations, became tools through which God’s Name became sanctified in this world.

~ ~ ~ 

Paras Provokes Edom

17 Shevat 5786 

Seventeen is the gematria of "Tov"!  Today is Tov shel Shevat!

The Ugly Israeli

16 Shevat 5786 

In 1963, a movie came out in the US called "The Ugly American" starring Marlon Brando.  It was about American meddling in the affairs of other (lesser) nations.  I guess today it would be called "Democracy Building."

Anyway, with that in mind, I often look at these anti-Torah chilonim and think to myself "The Ugly Israeli".  Here is a perfect example...

The B’Tzalmo organization submitted a formal request on Sunday to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara demanding the opening of a criminal investigation against a candidate in Yair Golan’s Democrats party on suspicion of incitement to racism and calling for her disqualification.

The request follows footage from a private political gathering posted on social media, showing the candidate presenting demographic data about the Chareidi population and saying, “They double their numbers every 25 years…this means that in 25 years they’ll make up 50 percent of the population—unless we stop it.”

She then claimed that Chareidi birth rates have dropped over the past few years due to financial sanctions. “I can tell you that over the past three years—since sanctions began, since we stopped funding schools without core curriculum studies, and since we stopped subsidizing daycares—birth rates have gone down,” she said. “Now this process must continue.”  (Source)

It's just one example, but these sentiments actually run far and deep in Israeli society.  We really have to keep in mind the fact that this is NOT a Jewish country and it is becoming less so every single day.

Is Israel Still Jewish? The Terrifying Truth Behind the New Aliyah Statistics

Israel to Import 5,000 Foreign Workers to Work as Kindergarten Teachers

REDEMPTION RISING

15 Shevat 5786 

* * *

From Rome to Germany (the Holy Roman Empire) and Britain to the United States of America, the Fourth Empire is Falling -
Right Now!!

IT JUST HAPPENED:
$7 Trillion Wiped Out In 36 Hours
(Bigger Than 2008)

"Tu B'shvat Redemption Connection"

14 Shevat 5786 

[Reposting from a year ago on the Rabbi's instructions.  He says it is even more relevant this year.]

End Times Unfolding Before Our Very Own Eyes!! Tu B'shvat Redemption Connection | Rabbi Richter

When It's Too Easy to Return to Egypt

12 Shevat 5786
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Beshallach - Shabbat Shirah

Excerpts from the Stone Edition Chumash Commentary on the parashah...

The Route to Eretz Yisrael

The quickest, easiest, and most direct route from Egypt to Eretz Yisrael is northeast along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, a route that goes through Philistia, which is on the west coast of the Holy Land (part of which is the Gaza area of today).  However, just as this was the easiest way to leave Egypt, it would also have been the easiest way to return there.  Since the war-like Philistines were sure to fight the Jewish "invaders," God knew that the people would lose heart and return to Egypt.  To avoid this, He led them on a roundabout path through the Sinai Desert, going east and then north, so that they would enter the Land from the eastern bank of the Jordan River.  This would take them so far from Egypt that it would be difficult - though not impossible - for them to consider returning.  Even so, there were times in the wilderness when the Jews complained against Moses and wanted to return to Egypt; had such a return been quick and easy, they would surely have attempted it.

Although they were confronted by an attack from Amalek, this did not cause them to return to Egypt, because the Amalekites did not fight to protect their homeland from invasion, as the Philistines would have done.  Were that the case, then the fearful Jews would have said correctly that the way to safety lay in a return to Egypt.  But Amalek was the offspring of Esau, and they attacked Israel because of their ancestor's ancient, implacable hatred of Jacob; they would have continued the attack even if the Jews had retreated toward Egypt.  Furthermore, at the time of Amalek's attack, Israel was already too deep into the Wilderness for an easy return (see Rashi, Ramban).

Our parashah ends with "Write This As A Remembrance" 

Hashem said to Moses, "Write this as a remembrance in the Book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I shall surely erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens."  Moses built an altar and called its name "Hashem is My Miracle" [Hashem Nisi]; and he said, "For the hand is on the throne of God:  Hashem maintains a wr with Amalek, from generation to generation."  (Shemot 17.14-16)

Moses declared that God had sworn by placing His hand on His throne, as it were, that He would continue the war against Amalek forever, until the memory of that evil nation is obliterated.

 ~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~

About Iran - Just Sayin'...

11 Shevat 5786

A people with a long history cannot afford to have a short memory.

I'm concerned about how quickly the Jews have taken up the fiction that the Iranian people are our natural friends.  It's only their leadership who is at odds with us and why? - because of their Islamic beliefs.  If they could only be liberated from the oppression of Islam and be made over into another Western democracy on the Israeli model, all would be well in the Middle East.  This is the same story we are being sold about Gaza.  

Let's not forget that the first genocide of Jews (men, women, children, elderly to babies) was proposed and accepted in ancient Persia and even when the Jews were given permission to defend themselves, still tens of thousands of Persians attacked the Jews and were killed in turn.  

Not everyone in Iran opposes the Islamic regime.  Granted it does not enjoy the support it did initially, but it was still the Iranian people who put it in power.  

Reza Shah Pahlavi, the Shah in power when Hitler, y"sh rose to fame in Germany, was an admirer...

Reza Shah Pahlavi’s attitude toward Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930s and early 1940s was characterized by sympathy, admiration, and strategic partnership, primarily driven by a desire to modernize Iran and break free from the traditional influence of Great Britain and the Soviet Union. While he maintained formal neutrality at the outbreak of World War II, his deep ties to Berlin ultimately led to the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and his forced abdication in 1941.

Reza Shah admired Hitler and the Nazi regime, viewing his own career as similar to the German leader's—a strongman transforming a nation. He was attracted to the Nazi concept of the "Aryan race," which Nazis used to justify a supposed kinship between Germany and Iran.

In 1935, Iran’s name was changed from Persia to "Iran" (meaning "Land of the Aryans") in part to emphasize this perceived shared Aryan kinship with Germany.

Reza Shah hired Nazi military advisors, and Germany provided educational materials, such as the "German Scientific Library," to promote the idea of shared ancestry. Anti-Semitism Inconsistency: While the Shah was a "Nazi-friendly" ruler, he generally did not adopt Nazi-style anti-Jewish policies internally, and his government sometimes acted to protect Iranian Jews during the war.

As the war progressed, Britain and the Soviet Union feared that the heavy German presence (roughly 1,000 German residents in 1941) and the Shah's "pro-Nazi" tendency would allow the Axis to seize control of the Persian oil fields and railway. Consequently, they invaded Iran in August 1941, forcing Reza Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and sending him into exile in South Africa where he died.   (Source:  Google)

In our own time, lest we forget, a publicly avowed Holocaust denier (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) was elected President of Iran twice - in 2005 and again in 2009.  [See also, Denial of Holocaust nothing new in Iran].

The most positive spin says that fully 80% of the Iranian population (93 million people) oppose the current regime.  The 20% who support would be hard-core Islamists numbering at least 18 million.  That is a considerable number and they are not our friends.  They will continue to exert influence - an anti-Israel influence.

All I'm saying is don't hold onto any illusions about the chances for peace through regime change alone.  Remember that nations don't have friends, they have only interests.  It's in our best interests to keep everyone at a distance - a nation who dwells alone.

It's A Fair Question

10 Shevat 5786 

Why is hakol min Shamayim (All is from Heaven) except "antisemitism"?  Is it not the main tool in HKB"H's hand used to dismantle the exile?  Isn't ending the exile - something we pray for many times every day - something to take joy and hope from and not something to organise "fights" against?  

Which is it?  Do we want to be redeemed or not?  

If you are willing to fight this battle against the One Who is sending it, you've got even bigger questions to answer.