For quite sometime, people have been speculating on whether George Bush will find a way to remain in office, especially those who believe that he is Gog and the last president in the closing hours of the American Empire which is already burning down.
Bush himself even joked about it in an interview given last week.
There is an unconfirmed report as follows:
US To Declare October ‘Economic Emergency’, Suspend Elections
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) is reporting in the Kremlin today that the Bank of England has received from the United States Federal Reserve Bank a ‘notice’ that President Bush is preparing to declare an ‘Economic Emergency’ during the week of October 5th and will further announce that the American Presidential election due to be held on November 4th will be ‘indefinitely suspended’.
What I'm wondering now is this. Is the report today of John McCain's announcement of his intent to postpone the debate and halt his campaign activity plus Obama's telephone conversation with Pres Bush last night which resulted in his agreement to come to Washington to sit with him and McCain to formulate a plan for dealing with the economic crisis... Is this a prelude to a joint announcement of intent to suspend the elections "for the good of the country" until the crisis is past?
"Now is a time to come together — Democrats and Republicans — in a spirit of cooperation for the sake of the American people," they said. "This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country."
25 September 2008
What Money Can Buy
Anyone in the market for a Prime Minister?
Livni a 'Hollywood Star'
(IsraelNN.com) Hollywood producers were among big donors to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's campaign to replace outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party and to form a new government. She also received large financial backing from East Coast millionaires, according to campaign contribution lists quoted by The Marker.
Her chief opponent, Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz, won financial support from Jews with lineage from his native Iran. Among contributors to Foreign Minister Livni are men involved in a projected development of a hotel in Herzliya.
Livni a 'Hollywood Star'
(IsraelNN.com) Hollywood producers were among big donors to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's campaign to replace outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party and to form a new government. She also received large financial backing from East Coast millionaires, according to campaign contribution lists quoted by The Marker.
Her chief opponent, Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz, won financial support from Jews with lineage from his native Iran. Among contributors to Foreign Minister Livni are men involved in a projected development of a hotel in Herzliya.
Our Star
Solar wind weakest since beginning of space age...The solar wind "inflates a protective bubble, or heliosphere, around the solar system," which protects the inner planets against the radiation from other stars,.... "With the solar wind at an all-time low, there is an excellent chance the heliosphere will diminish in size and strength," .... "If that occurs, more galactic cosmic rays will make it into the inner part of our solar system,"....
Scientists say the weakening of solar wind appears to be due to changes in the sun's magnetic field, but the causes of these changes are unknown.
The sun normally experiences 11-year-cycles between periods of great activity and lesser activity.
...recent results, ...show that "we are in a period of minimal activity that has stretched on longer than anyone anticipated."
24 September 2008
Twelve Days Later...
Final Update on the aftermath of Hurricane Ike:
Galveston Residents Return To Island
GALVESTON, Texas - Galveston residents returned to the island city Wednesday for the first time since Hurricane Ike roared through, KPRC Local 2 reported. Thousands of vehicles poured into the island when the checkpoint was opened shortly before 6 a.m. Traffic on the Gulf Freeway was backed up about eight miles to Texas City.
Some residents brought in U-Hauls and trailers filled with supplies, food and items they took when they evacuated.
Dozens of law enforcement officers were out in force to manage traffic. Traffic signals on the island do not work and many turn lanes have been blocked off to help prevent gridlock.
...Officials estimated that 75 percent of the businesses and homes on the island are not fit for habitation. City leaders want residents to be prepared to look and leave, and not expect to stay right away.
...In Galveston, approximately 30 percent of the city has electricity. But residents cannot turn on electric or natural gas meters until they have been inspected.
Water service is almost restored, but city water is still not fit to drink.
Only the most rudimentary medical services are available and the few hotel rooms available are filled.
Galveston residents were asked to bring their own food, water and gas if they expect to stay because those items are in short supply.
City officials recommended that residents who have not had a tetanus shot in the past 10 years get one.
A curfew of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. is also in place until further notice. Curfew violators will be subject to a $2,000 fine.
GAS SHORTAGES DUE TO 'IKE' AND 'GUSTAV'
Galveston Residents Return To Island
GALVESTON, Texas - Galveston residents returned to the island city Wednesday for the first time since Hurricane Ike roared through, KPRC Local 2 reported. Thousands of vehicles poured into the island when the checkpoint was opened shortly before 6 a.m. Traffic on the Gulf Freeway was backed up about eight miles to Texas City.
Some residents brought in U-Hauls and trailers filled with supplies, food and items they took when they evacuated.
Dozens of law enforcement officers were out in force to manage traffic. Traffic signals on the island do not work and many turn lanes have been blocked off to help prevent gridlock.
...Officials estimated that 75 percent of the businesses and homes on the island are not fit for habitation. City leaders want residents to be prepared to look and leave, and not expect to stay right away.
...In Galveston, approximately 30 percent of the city has electricity. But residents cannot turn on electric or natural gas meters until they have been inspected.
Water service is almost restored, but city water is still not fit to drink.
Only the most rudimentary medical services are available and the few hotel rooms available are filled.
Galveston residents were asked to bring their own food, water and gas if they expect to stay because those items are in short supply.
City officials recommended that residents who have not had a tetanus shot in the past 10 years get one.
A curfew of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. is also in place until further notice. Curfew violators will be subject to a $2,000 fine.
GAS SHORTAGES DUE TO 'IKE' AND 'GUSTAV'
23 September 2008
22 September 2008
Rain is a Blessing from Heaven
Weather: First Drops of Rain on the Way
(IsraelNN.com) Northern and central Israel may get the first raindrops of the season after the current warming trend ends Monday night. Temperatures will drop sharply Tuesday and Wednesday, rise slightly on Thursday and Friday and fall again on the Sabbath and next Sunday. Local rain is forecast on Wednesday with more serious precipitation probable on the Sabbath and next Monday.
The thermometer is expected to fall to the mid-teens (60s F) at night and to 8 degrees Celsius (46 F) on the Hermon mountains.
One long-range forecast based on American weather models predicts that Israel will receive heavier than usual and much-needed rain this winter.
Whether we get the first rain this week or only after Sukkot, I do believe that the drought will end and we will have abundant blessed rain this winter. There are many signs that point to the tide having turned for us. I believe things are going to get better and better (in Israel) from now on. Wait and see!
(IsraelNN.com) Northern and central Israel may get the first raindrops of the season after the current warming trend ends Monday night. Temperatures will drop sharply Tuesday and Wednesday, rise slightly on Thursday and Friday and fall again on the Sabbath and next Sunday. Local rain is forecast on Wednesday with more serious precipitation probable on the Sabbath and next Monday.
The thermometer is expected to fall to the mid-teens (60s F) at night and to 8 degrees Celsius (46 F) on the Hermon mountains.
One long-range forecast based on American weather models predicts that Israel will receive heavier than usual and much-needed rain this winter.
Whether we get the first rain this week or only after Sukkot, I do believe that the drought will end and we will have abundant blessed rain this winter. There are many signs that point to the tide having turned for us. I believe things are going to get better and better (in Israel) from now on. Wait and see!
21 September 2008
Yasher Koach, Yad l'Achim!
(Hat tip to Esav Exposed)
Big Brother Is Watching
Three missionaries tried to deceitfully convert to Judaism in religious courts around the world, only to be foiled by Yad L'Achim .
A few weeks ago, a distinguished-looking professor of international law showed up at Chabad house of Geneva headed by Rabbi Mendel Pewzner asking to convert to Judaism.
He made an excellent impression, dressed in a suit and hat and displaying broad knowledge of Judaism. Most importantly, he appeared very sincere in his desire to accept upon himself the yoke of Torah and mitzvos.
As the man began making inroads into the kehillah, attending services and being invited into homes, Rabbi Pewzner got an urgent message from Yad L'Achim in Israel: The newcomer was a missionary. Yad L'Achim backed up its charge with evidence that the man was a Mormon and active in missionary activity around the world.
Moreover, Yad L'Achim presented eye-witness testimony that during the very time that the man was in shul, in his religious Jewish garb, he was trying to convince tourists visiting the place to convert out of Judaism.
The final evidence, which left no doubt as to the man's intentions, was a statement attributed to him that he wanted to become a Jew because it would be easier for him to operate among Jews, since he could pass himself off as one of them.
While the kehillah, armed with this critical information, banished the man from its midst, the story doesn't end here. The jurist moved on to Israel and appeared before a beis din for conversion declaring his "sincere" desire to become a Jew. Yad L'Achim, which kept the impostor on its radar, was quick to present the members of the beis din with its evidence.
With a persistence that is characteristic of missionaries, the man moved on to Rome, where he turned to a local beis din for assistance. Yad L'Achim tripped him up again, presenting Rabbi Gad Eldad, a member of the conversion court in Rome, with the facts.
The learned law professor is not the first missionary to try to convert to Judaism to be able to infiltrate the Jewish community. Nor is he the first whose efforts were stymied by Yad L'Achim. A couple from Frankfurt, Germany, members of a missionary cult, recently began the process of conversion with the Rabbinical Council of America. But the council's beis din rejected their application after receiving incriminating information from Yad L'Achim.
Harav Shalom Dov Lifschitz, chairman of Yad L'Achim, revealed that he recently sent an urgent appeal to conversion courts around the world asking that applicants sign a statement disavowing their belief in Christianity before their application will be considered.
"It isn't foolproof, but it will put up a barrier because their religious beliefs forbid them from making such a declaration," he said. "We have to understand that there are missionaries who are seeking to convert to Judaism – and receive Israeli citizenship as a result – as a means of advancing their missionary efforts. Every step must be taken to stop them."
Big Brother Is Watching
Three missionaries tried to deceitfully convert to Judaism in religious courts around the world, only to be foiled by Yad L'Achim .
A few weeks ago, a distinguished-looking professor of international law showed up at Chabad house of Geneva headed by Rabbi Mendel Pewzner asking to convert to Judaism.
He made an excellent impression, dressed in a suit and hat and displaying broad knowledge of Judaism. Most importantly, he appeared very sincere in his desire to accept upon himself the yoke of Torah and mitzvos.
As the man began making inroads into the kehillah, attending services and being invited into homes, Rabbi Pewzner got an urgent message from Yad L'Achim in Israel: The newcomer was a missionary. Yad L'Achim backed up its charge with evidence that the man was a Mormon and active in missionary activity around the world.
Moreover, Yad L'Achim presented eye-witness testimony that during the very time that the man was in shul, in his religious Jewish garb, he was trying to convince tourists visiting the place to convert out of Judaism.
The final evidence, which left no doubt as to the man's intentions, was a statement attributed to him that he wanted to become a Jew because it would be easier for him to operate among Jews, since he could pass himself off as one of them.
While the kehillah, armed with this critical information, banished the man from its midst, the story doesn't end here. The jurist moved on to Israel and appeared before a beis din for conversion declaring his "sincere" desire to become a Jew. Yad L'Achim, which kept the impostor on its radar, was quick to present the members of the beis din with its evidence.
With a persistence that is characteristic of missionaries, the man moved on to Rome, where he turned to a local beis din for assistance. Yad L'Achim tripped him up again, presenting Rabbi Gad Eldad, a member of the conversion court in Rome, with the facts.
The learned law professor is not the first missionary to try to convert to Judaism to be able to infiltrate the Jewish community. Nor is he the first whose efforts were stymied by Yad L'Achim. A couple from Frankfurt, Germany, members of a missionary cult, recently began the process of conversion with the Rabbinical Council of America. But the council's beis din rejected their application after receiving incriminating information from Yad L'Achim.
Harav Shalom Dov Lifschitz, chairman of Yad L'Achim, revealed that he recently sent an urgent appeal to conversion courts around the world asking that applicants sign a statement disavowing their belief in Christianity before their application will be considered.
"It isn't foolproof, but it will put up a barrier because their religious beliefs forbid them from making such a declaration," he said. "We have to understand that there are missionaries who are seeking to convert to Judaism – and receive Israeli citizenship as a result – as a means of advancing their missionary efforts. Every step must be taken to stop them."
"Consequence Management Response Force"
When the daily headlines start looking like these...
NEW YORK POST: ALMOST ARMAGEDDON
MARKETS WERE 500 TRADES FROM A MELTDOWN
THE ECONOMIST: DERIVATIVES MARKET MAY SET OFF A FINANCIAL NUCLEAR WAR
...it must be comforting to know that your neighborhood military battalion knows what it feels like to be tasered.
Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1
The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.
Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home.
Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.
...They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
Training for homeland scenarios has already begun at Fort Stewart and includes specialty tasks such as knowing how to use the “jaws of life” to extract a person from a mangled vehicle; extra medical training for a CBRNE incident; and working with U.S. Forestry Service experts on how to go in with chainsaws and cut and clear trees to clear a road or area.
The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
“It’s a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they’re fielding. They’ve been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it.”
The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.
“I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered,” said Cloutier, describing the experience as “your worst muscle cramp ever — times 10 throughout your whole body.“I’m not a small guy, I weigh 230 pounds ... it put me on my knees in seconds.”
The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf”).
“I can’t think of a more noble mission than this,” said Cloutier, who took command in July.
“We’ve been all over the world during this time of conflict, but now our mission is to take care of citizens at home ... and depending on where an event occurred, you’re going home to take care of your home town, your loved ones.”
While soldiers’ combat training is applicable, he said, some nuances don’t apply.
“If we go in, we’re going in to help American citizens on American soil, to save lives, provide critical life support, help clear debris, restore normalcy and support whatever local agencies need us to do, so it’s kind of a different role,” said Cloutier, who, as the division operations officer on the last rotation, learned of the homeland mission a few months ago while they were still in Iraq.
Yeah, right! With "spike strips...; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets." Oh, and don't forget the tasers! Very comforting indeed.
NEW YORK POST: ALMOST ARMAGEDDON
MARKETS WERE 500 TRADES FROM A MELTDOWN
THE ECONOMIST: DERIVATIVES MARKET MAY SET OFF A FINANCIAL NUCLEAR WAR
...it must be comforting to know that your neighborhood military battalion knows what it feels like to be tasered.
Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1
The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.
Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home.
Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.
...They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
Training for homeland scenarios has already begun at Fort Stewart and includes specialty tasks such as knowing how to use the “jaws of life” to extract a person from a mangled vehicle; extra medical training for a CBRNE incident; and working with U.S. Forestry Service experts on how to go in with chainsaws and cut and clear trees to clear a road or area.
The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
“It’s a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they’re fielding. They’ve been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it.”
The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.
“I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered,” said Cloutier, describing the experience as “your worst muscle cramp ever — times 10 throughout your whole body.“I’m not a small guy, I weigh 230 pounds ... it put me on my knees in seconds.”
The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf”).
“I can’t think of a more noble mission than this,” said Cloutier, who took command in July.
“We’ve been all over the world during this time of conflict, but now our mission is to take care of citizens at home ... and depending on where an event occurred, you’re going home to take care of your home town, your loved ones.”
While soldiers’ combat training is applicable, he said, some nuances don’t apply.
“If we go in, we’re going in to help American citizens on American soil, to save lives, provide critical life support, help clear debris, restore normalcy and support whatever local agencies need us to do, so it’s kind of a different role,” said Cloutier, who, as the division operations officer on the last rotation, learned of the homeland mission a few months ago while they were still in Iraq.
Yeah, right! With "spike strips...; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets." Oh, and don't forget the tasers! Very comforting indeed.
20 September 2008
Next Week's News???
Considering the staggering news events of last week, from the destruction of Hurricane Ike to the near collapse of the greatest economic engine the world has ever seen, what might next week bring?
"Who is this coming from Edom, with soiled garments, ... Why is Your clothing red, and your attire like one who trod in a wine press? "A wine press I trod alone, and from the peoples, none was with Me; and I trod them with My wrath, and I trampled them with My fury, and their life blood sprinkled on My garments, and all My clothing I soiled. For a day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption has arrived."
~Yeshayahu 63,1-4, Haftorah Parshat Nitzavim
Intelligence: Terror operation in U.S., Europe possibly imminent
A disturbing communication posted in a high level Arabic language forum suggests that some type of terrorist operation is currently underway, targeting sites within the United States and Europe. According to information developed within the last 24 hours by a deep-cover intelligence operative, Islamic terrorists have been dispatched to the U.S. and Europe and may be in place, preparing to execute unspecified terrorist attacks within the U.S. and Europe.
~Homeland Security, 17 September 2008
"Who is this coming from Edom, with soiled garments, ... Why is Your clothing red, and your attire like one who trod in a wine press? "A wine press I trod alone, and from the peoples, none was with Me; and I trod them with My wrath, and I trampled them with My fury, and their life blood sprinkled on My garments, and all My clothing I soiled. For a day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption has arrived." ~Yeshayahu 63,1-4, Haftorah Parshat Nitzavim
Intelligence: Terror operation in U.S., Europe possibly imminent
A disturbing communication posted in a high level Arabic language forum suggests that some type of terrorist operation is currently underway, targeting sites within the United States and Europe. According to information developed within the last 24 hours by a deep-cover intelligence operative, Islamic terrorists have been dispatched to the U.S. and Europe and may be in place, preparing to execute unspecified terrorist attacks within the U.S. and Europe.
~Homeland Security, 17 September 2008
19 September 2008
'Saint' Ehud
"I decided to resign, with pain, not with pleasure, I must say, really with pain," a tired-looking, casually-clad Olmert told a gathering of students in the Negev. "I know that there are still many things to do, that I wanted to do, that I believe I could have done. I have no bitterness. I have no anger."
Look for him to do his damnedest over the next couple of weeks (along with his partner Peres) to complete the Erev Ravian plan for Israel's ultimate destruction. (Don't worry, it won't work in any case, but it might look very scary.)
He's got nothing left to lose.
PMO: Olmert to tell cabinet of resignation on SundayBy Barak Ravid
...[A] source said Olmert told President Shimon Peres that he wanted to submit his resignation to the president only after Rosh Hashanah and Peres' return from New York, not before October 2.
Meanwhile, Olmert will continue negotiating with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, with whom he met Tuesday. Sources close to Olmert said "the gaps are very small and in two or three more meetings, it may be possible to reach an agreement."
Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel reportedly met a few days ago with Peres to coordinate the date of Olmert's resignation. Olmert himself is said to have called Peres a number of times and had long phone conversations on the matter.
...By law, Olmert must announce his intention to resign and only then submit his resignation. Olmert's bureau decided that even if the race were determined in the first round, Olmert would only announce his intention to resign at Sunday's cabinet meeting.
Look for him to do his damnedest over the next couple of weeks (along with his partner Peres) to complete the Erev Ravian plan for Israel's ultimate destruction. (Don't worry, it won't work in any case, but it might look very scary.)
He's got nothing left to lose.
PMO: Olmert to tell cabinet of resignation on SundayBy Barak Ravid
...[A] source said Olmert told President Shimon Peres that he wanted to submit his resignation to the president only after Rosh Hashanah and Peres' return from New York, not before October 2.
Meanwhile, Olmert will continue negotiating with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, with whom he met Tuesday. Sources close to Olmert said "the gaps are very small and in two or three more meetings, it may be possible to reach an agreement."
Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel reportedly met a few days ago with Peres to coordinate the date of Olmert's resignation. Olmert himself is said to have called Peres a number of times and had long phone conversations on the matter.
...By law, Olmert must announce his intention to resign and only then submit his resignation. Olmert's bureau decided that even if the race were determined in the first round, Olmert would only announce his intention to resign at Sunday's cabinet meeting.
"Bush Quips He Might Stay in Power"
By Kevin Poulsen October 17, 2007
At a press briefing this morning that touched on issues like the White House's extrajudicial wiretapping program and torture policies, the president was asked a question about Vladimir Putin's plan to hold on to power when his term as Russian president runs out.
(Remainder of article here.)
At a press briefing this morning that touched on issues like the White House's extrajudicial wiretapping program and torture policies, the president was asked a question about Vladimir Putin's plan to hold on to power when his term as Russian president runs out.
Reporter: Mr. President, following up on Vladimir Putin for a moment, he said recently that next year, when he has to step down according to the constitution, as the president, he may become prime minister; in effect keeping power and dashing any hopes for a genuine democratic transition there ...Ahahahahaha. That's funny. It's a great comedian who can give voice to what everyone else is just thinking.
Bush: I've been planning that myself.
(Remainder of article here.)
18 September 2008
Things Getting a Bit Shaky in the Islamic World
Magnitude-5 quake jolts Iran's Qeshm island
TEHRAN, Iran: Iran's Seismological Center says a magnitude-5 earthquake has cut electricity and caused panic on Iran's Qeshm island in the Persian Gulf.
...Wednesday's earthquake was the second strong temblor to hit Qeshm in a week. On Sept. 10, a magnitude-6 quake killed seven people and injured 40 others. It sent tremors across the Gulf and shook the skyscrapers of Dubai.
TEHRAN, Iran: Iran's Seismological Center says a magnitude-5 earthquake has cut electricity and caused panic on Iran's Qeshm island in the Persian Gulf.
...Wednesday's earthquake was the second strong temblor to hit Qeshm in a week. On Sept. 10, a magnitude-6 quake killed seven people and injured 40 others. It sent tremors across the Gulf and shook the skyscrapers of Dubai.
Signs of GOOD for ISRAEL
Add to the following the fact that Olmert's days are numbered and the picture is rosy indeed. Eisav is clearly on his way (quickly) down the 'ladder.' That means Ya'akov is on the way up.
Shekel Doing Well Despite U.S. Economic Woes
Shekel Doing Well Despite U.S. Economic Woes
by Malkah Fleisher
(IsraelNN.com) The shekel is continuing its sharp appreciation against leading currencies, breaking new thresholds despite major losses on Wall Street, the US government bailout of insurance giant American International Group (AIG), the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holding, and the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America.
Pomegranate Crop Hits Record High
(IsraelNN.com) The shekel is continuing its sharp appreciation against leading currencies, breaking new thresholds despite major losses on Wall Street, the US government bailout of insurance giant American International Group (AIG), the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holding, and the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America.
Pomegranate Crop Hits Record High
(IsraelNN.com) The Pomegranate crop in Israel is expected to reach a record high of 20,000 tons this season, 25 percent higher than last year's yield. Nearly 25 percent of the fruit will be exported.
Large Grape Crop Expected
(IsraelNN.com) The grape harvest this season is expected to yield 45,000 tons, seven percent more than the previous year, ....
(IsraelNN.com) The grape harvest this season is expected to yield 45,000 tons, seven percent more than the previous year, ....
Tsipi Livni
America's choice for
Israel's Prime Minister
"A Prime Minister in Israel should be democratically elected by the entire nation," Saar said this morning, "and not by 431 party members. Forming a new government in these circumstances would be a legal farce that would strike a clear blow at Israeli democracy."
17 September 2008
In the Month of Elul...
Our intrepid Prime Minister has chosen the period leading up to Yom HaDin, a time for serious introspection, soul-searching and repentance, days to be in awe of the One before Whom we stand---to make the folowing asinine declarations:
Olmert: ‘Forget Greater Israel’
by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel
(IsraelNN.com) "The notion of a Greater Israel no longer exists, and anyone who still believes in it is deluding themselves," said Ehud Olmert, in what is likely to be his last cabinet meeting as Prime Minister.
"Forty years after the Six Day War ended, we keep finding excuses not to act. This isn't doing Israel any good,” said Olmert to the members of his cabinet.
Olmert warned that unless Israel gives up more land, it will face pressure from overseas to grant all PA Arabs citizenship in a single state of two nationalities. “The international community in starting to view Israel as a future binational state. We can prove that we have been more creative than the other side through the years, and that they have been more obstinate, but as usual, we will win the debate by not losing sight of what's really important.”
...“We have to ask ourselves is losing a hill here or there, is worth forfeiting the chance to achieve something. This is why I say that this is the time to discuss the evacuation-compensation . We have to keep pushing it, and eventually bring it before the government,” he noted, referring to a proposal put forth by Chaim Ramon, former Minister of Justice and current Vice-Premier.
...“A day will come, probably sooner than some are willing to admit, that all of us will be willing to embrace the same solutions that some of us are rejecting right now.” [unwitting prophecy???]
Olmert: Israel Wasted 40 Years on Judea, Samaria
(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that Israel spent 40 years investing its energy on Judea and Samaria – in vain.
"We invested the emotional resources and our thoughts in 'how to build Judea and Samaria' but history made it clear to us that the state of Israel has other realistic and practical alternatives," Olmert said in a speech at the Ashalim students' village. "The future of the state of Israel will not be in our mixing with the Palestinians but in the empty parts of the land that are thirsting for our entrepreneurial and inventive drive," he added.
"For forty years we invested the energy of our souls in order to build up a place from which, in retrospect, we see that the land shall not be built. I say this carefully, with respect and circumspection," he said. "I have great appreciation for the people who built their homes in those places and in the past I, too, supported them."
It's Olmert's mouth moving, but it's the Sitra Achra speaking. They're gonna have to pick Olmert up and remove him , chair and all, because he won't let go of it willingly. Like Paro (and countless others) before him, he has deluded himself and is convinced that he can not fail or fall. That usually means that the failure and the fall are imminent.
Olmert to Ignore Elections, Offers More 'Goodwill Gestures'
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas more "goodwill gestures" despite the Kadima elections that will determine his replacement as party leader and head of the government, PA sources said Wednesday. He apparently has backtracked on his stated promise to quit the day after the elections.
One of the gestures he promised Abbas at a meeting on the eve of the leadership elections is the release of more Arab terrorists.
Prime Minister Olmert had promised to resign after a new leader is chosen, but he can remain in power for several weeks while his replacement tries to form a new government, which is not a certainty. If the new party leader is unable to form a government, President Shimon Peres will ask another party leader to carry out the task or order new elections.
Prime Minister Olmert's reported promise of more compromises and concessions to the PA may be challenged by opposition parties, who can ask Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to rule that he has no right to make policy decisions while he is a "lame duck" prime minister.
Mazuz recently denied a petition that he declare the government to be in "transition" and to limit Olmert's flexibility. If one of the four candidates wins Wednesday's election on the first round with at least 40 percent plurality, the Olmert administration will legally be one that is temporary.
Sources quoted by Chinese news agency Xinhua also stated that Abbas asked Prime Minister Olmert to offer more facilities to Arabs at the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, to take down more checkpoints and roadblocks and to free Marwan Barghouti. The Tanzim terrorist head is serving five life terms in prison for planning deadly terrorist attacks that resulted in the murders of numerous people. Prime Minister Olmert replied he would free him by the end of the month, Xinhua reported.
Prime Minister Olmert already has granted permission to the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount to repair and restore verses from the Koran that were carved into several Muslim buildings on the Temple Mount, according to WorldNetDaily reporter Aaron Klein.
Special tools and machinery for repairing the verses have been stored in Ashdod for three years, Klein reported.
And all in the month of ELUL!!
Olmert: ‘Forget Greater Israel’
by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel
(IsraelNN.com) "The notion of a Greater Israel no longer exists, and anyone who still believes in it is deluding themselves," said Ehud Olmert, in what is likely to be his last cabinet meeting as Prime Minister.
"Forty years after the Six Day War ended, we keep finding excuses not to act. This isn't doing Israel any good,” said Olmert to the members of his cabinet.
Olmert warned that unless Israel gives up more land, it will face pressure from overseas to grant all PA Arabs citizenship in a single state of two nationalities. “The international community in starting to view Israel as a future binational state. We can prove that we have been more creative than the other side through the years, and that they have been more obstinate, but as usual, we will win the debate by not losing sight of what's really important.”
...“We have to ask ourselves is losing a hill here or there, is worth forfeiting the chance to achieve something. This is why I say that this is the time to discuss the evacuation-compensation . We have to keep pushing it, and eventually bring it before the government,” he noted, referring to a proposal put forth by Chaim Ramon, former Minister of Justice and current Vice-Premier.
...“A day will come, probably sooner than some are willing to admit, that all of us will be willing to embrace the same solutions that some of us are rejecting right now.” [unwitting prophecy???]
Olmert: Israel Wasted 40 Years on Judea, Samaria
(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that Israel spent 40 years investing its energy on Judea and Samaria – in vain.
"We invested the emotional resources and our thoughts in 'how to build Judea and Samaria' but history made it clear to us that the state of Israel has other realistic and practical alternatives," Olmert said in a speech at the Ashalim students' village. "The future of the state of Israel will not be in our mixing with the Palestinians but in the empty parts of the land that are thirsting for our entrepreneurial and inventive drive," he added.
"For forty years we invested the energy of our souls in order to build up a place from which, in retrospect, we see that the land shall not be built. I say this carefully, with respect and circumspection," he said. "I have great appreciation for the people who built their homes in those places and in the past I, too, supported them."
It's Olmert's mouth moving, but it's the Sitra Achra speaking. They're gonna have to pick Olmert up and remove him , chair and all, because he won't let go of it willingly. Like Paro (and countless others) before him, he has deluded himself and is convinced that he can not fail or fall. That usually means that the failure and the fall are imminent.
Olmert to Ignore Elections, Offers More 'Goodwill Gestures'
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas more "goodwill gestures" despite the Kadima elections that will determine his replacement as party leader and head of the government, PA sources said Wednesday. He apparently has backtracked on his stated promise to quit the day after the elections.
One of the gestures he promised Abbas at a meeting on the eve of the leadership elections is the release of more Arab terrorists.
Prime Minister Olmert had promised to resign after a new leader is chosen, but he can remain in power for several weeks while his replacement tries to form a new government, which is not a certainty. If the new party leader is unable to form a government, President Shimon Peres will ask another party leader to carry out the task or order new elections.
Prime Minister Olmert's reported promise of more compromises and concessions to the PA may be challenged by opposition parties, who can ask Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to rule that he has no right to make policy decisions while he is a "lame duck" prime minister.
Mazuz recently denied a petition that he declare the government to be in "transition" and to limit Olmert's flexibility. If one of the four candidates wins Wednesday's election on the first round with at least 40 percent plurality, the Olmert administration will legally be one that is temporary.
Sources quoted by Chinese news agency Xinhua also stated that Abbas asked Prime Minister Olmert to offer more facilities to Arabs at the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, to take down more checkpoints and roadblocks and to free Marwan Barghouti. The Tanzim terrorist head is serving five life terms in prison for planning deadly terrorist attacks that resulted in the murders of numerous people. Prime Minister Olmert replied he would free him by the end of the month, Xinhua reported.
Prime Minister Olmert already has granted permission to the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount to repair and restore verses from the Koran that were carved into several Muslim buildings on the Temple Mount, according to WorldNetDaily reporter Aaron Klein.
Special tools and machinery for repairing the verses have been stored in Ashdod for three years, Klein reported.
And all in the month of ELUL!!
Change of Direction
When you see certain words or phrases being repeated very prominently, you can be sure they contain a message.
HA'ARETZ: Livni to voters: Pick change, show you are sick of the same old politics
FOXNEWS: Obama Fine-Tunes ‘Change’ Message, as Race Tightens
Obama, whose slogan has long been “Change We Can Believe In,” has since the end of the Democratic National Convention in late August altered his rallying cry — and not because it ends in a preposition.
Obama now speaks at a podium that bears the words “Change We Need.”
...The sudden focus on change-iness, as Stephen Colbert might put it, comes after John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin began to market themselves as the true reformers. McCain declared “change is coming” in his GOP nomination acceptance speech,....
Besides political change, we've been hearing a lot until now about climate change---major change---and we're both seeing it and experiencing it.
There's actually a double message here. The Jewish People must change direction and change their ways, i.e. do teshuva, because Hashem is preparing the world for the biggest change of all---Days of Mashiach!
HA'ARETZ: Livni to voters: Pick change, show you are sick of the same old politics
FOXNEWS: Obama Fine-Tunes ‘Change’ Message, as Race Tightens
Obama, whose slogan has long been “Change We Can Believe In,” has since the end of the Democratic National Convention in late August altered his rallying cry — and not because it ends in a preposition.
Obama now speaks at a podium that bears the words “Change We Need.”
...The sudden focus on change-iness, as Stephen Colbert might put it, comes after John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin began to market themselves as the true reformers. McCain declared “change is coming” in his GOP nomination acceptance speech,....
Besides political change, we've been hearing a lot until now about climate change---major change---and we're both seeing it and experiencing it.
There's actually a double message here. The Jewish People must change direction and change their ways, i.e. do teshuva, because Hashem is preparing the world for the biggest change of all---Days of Mashiach!
Mida k'Neged Mida
Collapse on Wall Street
This is what collapse looks like on Wall Street. October looks like it is going to be bloody beyond belief. Read the story closely and smell the fear. There is now a $400 trillion derivatives bubble hanging in the balance. The government has drawn the line on bailouts. That's good but it means the Fed is getting seriously squeezed and it hasn't dealt with Ike yet. We don't have a clue as to how much damage Ike did yet but it was serious. The price of gold has been bombed as bad as the price of oil. Both are due for huge breakouts and capital is looking for the exits. Today is going to be a busy, busy day. We have passed the Plunge Protection Team's pay grade....
Wall Street's Tower of Babel
...We are falling into a kind of chaos. This chaos appears in our economic behavior – in our indebtedness and failure to observe the traditional rules of economy. We have also ignored the warnings of our forefather’s money and credit. And we have lost our common sense in matters of money and finance. We fought a war on drugs but did not realize that the devil’s most powerful drug is credit. Is there any doubt that human beings cannot resist its addiction? We are now beyond the point of no return.
...The problem is that what is occurring in terms of birth pangs are not fully appreciated. At some point Americans will realize what has happened to them and their financial system.
So here is the executive summary:
The perversity of money and the financial system to do the very opposite of what all reason indicates should not deceive us from understanding reality. The fact that so many people do not see the tremendous peril we are in does not change reality. Over time people have lost touch with the great truths of economic life. The consequences of this insensitivity to these truths are to be unperturbed, irrational, and indifferent to signs of imminent disaster.
We are blind to enemy identification. We cannot see clear and present danger.
The new financial alchemy has created a complexity , a deception, and a structure which exceeds what is humanly manageable.
A single event could cripple our economic life and collapse our financial system. It is only a matter of time.
The Ten Sigma Event is like the ten plagues of Egypt. The plagues are happening again in a different form but the message is the same. The truth will be set free. I think we are at the stage of “tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very heavy and dreadful fall of hail.” Those who got their servants and livestock into houses and shelters were not destroyed. Some ignored the message and did not believe it and they lost everything. It is hard to hear a message of counterculture financial warning.
Money has become so complex that it has been confusing. So many new forms and extensions of money have flooded our lives. Debt has been confused as wealth and has been an addiction unto itself.
There is a reason that gold is called “precious” metal.
The financial elite of the United States have sacrificed the system’s survival for the greatest financial gains of all history. The system itself is dead and it is all theater from here on.
As the financial plagues unfold may I suggest you “urgently ask for gold and silver”.
Wanted: Homeland "Stolen" by the State
Yitzhar's rabbi: The state stole Israel from the JewsBy Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
Rabbi David Dudkevitch, the rabbi of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, was not present last Shabbat when dozens of Yitzhar residents avenged the stabbing of a boy from the settlement by going on a rampage of shooting and destruction in the neighboring village of Asira al-Kabiliya. He was there in spirit, however. Dudkevitch, who is highly respected in Yitzhar, is generally media-shy, but this time, he made an exception.
"The proper and healthy thing, and this applies to the events of Shabbat as well as in general, is for the Israel Defense Forces to be involved not only in apprehending terror suspects, but also in collective punishment, up to the level of reprisals, of the environment that supports terror," Dudkevitch told Haaretz Monday. "In the past, the State of Israel did this. But [today], just as it did in Gaza, with one hand it acts against terrorists and Katyusha launchers and with the other it feeds them and their families and cultivates the soil from which terror grows."
"Most of the Arab population - in the Galilee, the Triangle and in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] - desires the destruction of the state," Dudkevitch continued. "Some of them say this in Western-democratic disguise, others say it without masks."
According to the rabbi, 80 to 85 percent of local Arabs "hope and scheme to destroy the sovereignty of the Jewish people in our land," and therefore, "their emigration should be encouraged."
How?
"There will be many opportunities, both by encouraging and by deporting, but we must start with encouragement, with a general statement. That's the minimum."
Dudkevitch, 44, has been dubbed the rabbi of the "hilltop youth," and as such he expresses surprise when asked why Yitzhar is not surrounded by fences, which might have prevented the infiltration of the knife-wielding terrorist on Saturday.
"I am amazed to be asked that," he said. "The Bible says that when people 'sit in [fenced] camps' it radiates fear and unnaturalness, while when they are in open towns, it is a sign of strength, confidence and heroism. Let the Arabs, not the Jews, live within fortresses, fenced in. There are settlements that have agreed to be fenced in. I don't judge anyone. In Yitzhar we chose otherwise. There is so much land surrounding the settlements that the Arabs never thought of approaching them, and those that fence themselves in lose a huge amount of land."
In recent years, Dudkevitch has become identified with a strain of religious Zionism that distances itself from the symbols and institutions of the state. He does not reject this image.
"Unfortunately, the State of Israel, and especially its judicial system and its constitution, has in recent years chosen to place nearly every Jewish element into a universal, rather than Jewish, definition. It still glories in the title of a Jewish-democratic state, or democratic-Jewish, but in nearly every respect, particularly that of sovereignty, there's nothing to back that up. The state stole the state from the Jews, and sovereignty is attributed to all its citizens and not to the Jewish people throughout the generations."
"Against this background," he continued, "it's obvious that a great many people who are secure in their Judaism feel emotionally distant from the state, which is in another place altogether. This has a very high price, because citizens who find it hard to identify with their state - that is very damaging. When traitors to their state are allowed to serve in the Knesset and become part of the decision-making process, how can anyone, first of all on the emotional level, identify with that state?"
In light of the possibility that additional territory and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria will be evacuated, some of your colleagues are talking about establishing a 'state of Judea' alongside the State of Israel. Do you believe in this?
"The State of Israel is not the be-all and end-all. If it decides it does not want to be in the hereditary lands of our forefathers, then other Jews have the right to organize themselves in order to live there, even without a link to the state. Is it practical? I doubt it. That's why I'm not signing up for it. But when there's talk about another expulsion, then on the ideological level, the 'State of Judea' is no worse than expulsion."
If you still have any doubts, read Our World: Mrs. Clean is a Fraud
Rabbi David Dudkevitch, the rabbi of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, was not present last Shabbat when dozens of Yitzhar residents avenged the stabbing of a boy from the settlement by going on a rampage of shooting and destruction in the neighboring village of Asira al-Kabiliya. He was there in spirit, however. Dudkevitch, who is highly respected in Yitzhar, is generally media-shy, but this time, he made an exception.
"The proper and healthy thing, and this applies to the events of Shabbat as well as in general, is for the Israel Defense Forces to be involved not only in apprehending terror suspects, but also in collective punishment, up to the level of reprisals, of the environment that supports terror," Dudkevitch told Haaretz Monday. "In the past, the State of Israel did this. But [today], just as it did in Gaza, with one hand it acts against terrorists and Katyusha launchers and with the other it feeds them and their families and cultivates the soil from which terror grows."
"Most of the Arab population - in the Galilee, the Triangle and in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] - desires the destruction of the state," Dudkevitch continued. "Some of them say this in Western-democratic disguise, others say it without masks."
According to the rabbi, 80 to 85 percent of local Arabs "hope and scheme to destroy the sovereignty of the Jewish people in our land," and therefore, "their emigration should be encouraged."
How?
"There will be many opportunities, both by encouraging and by deporting, but we must start with encouragement, with a general statement. That's the minimum."
Dudkevitch, 44, has been dubbed the rabbi of the "hilltop youth," and as such he expresses surprise when asked why Yitzhar is not surrounded by fences, which might have prevented the infiltration of the knife-wielding terrorist on Saturday.
"I am amazed to be asked that," he said. "The Bible says that when people 'sit in [fenced] camps' it radiates fear and unnaturalness, while when they are in open towns, it is a sign of strength, confidence and heroism. Let the Arabs, not the Jews, live within fortresses, fenced in. There are settlements that have agreed to be fenced in. I don't judge anyone. In Yitzhar we chose otherwise. There is so much land surrounding the settlements that the Arabs never thought of approaching them, and those that fence themselves in lose a huge amount of land."
In recent years, Dudkevitch has become identified with a strain of religious Zionism that distances itself from the symbols and institutions of the state. He does not reject this image.
"Unfortunately, the State of Israel, and especially its judicial system and its constitution, has in recent years chosen to place nearly every Jewish element into a universal, rather than Jewish, definition. It still glories in the title of a Jewish-democratic state, or democratic-Jewish, but in nearly every respect, particularly that of sovereignty, there's nothing to back that up. The state stole the state from the Jews, and sovereignty is attributed to all its citizens and not to the Jewish people throughout the generations."
"Against this background," he continued, "it's obvious that a great many people who are secure in their Judaism feel emotionally distant from the state, which is in another place altogether. This has a very high price, because citizens who find it hard to identify with their state - that is very damaging. When traitors to their state are allowed to serve in the Knesset and become part of the decision-making process, how can anyone, first of all on the emotional level, identify with that state?"
In light of the possibility that additional territory and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria will be evacuated, some of your colleagues are talking about establishing a 'state of Judea' alongside the State of Israel. Do you believe in this?
"The State of Israel is not the be-all and end-all. If it decides it does not want to be in the hereditary lands of our forefathers, then other Jews have the right to organize themselves in order to live there, even without a link to the state. Is it practical? I doubt it. That's why I'm not signing up for it. But when there's talk about another expulsion, then on the ideological level, the 'State of Judea' is no worse than expulsion."
If you still have any doubts, read Our World: Mrs. Clean is a Fraud
15 September 2008
"We're at Impact"
Breaking News from LATOC
Over the last 12 months there have been a number of times when informed people thought "this is it." Well if today and this past weekend aren't "it", I don't know what is. We now have multiple large banks fighting for their lives and a 10 day disruption in gasoline supplies coming out of the Gulf Coast, both on the heels of the government nationalizing $5 trillion in mortgages and the Big Three automakers all letting it be known that they're going to need government bailouts as well. And that's before we even get to the crisis in Georgia over the BTC pipeline, the war in Nigeria MEND declared, or the rapidly collapsing climate.
About six months ago I wrote on this page it was time to "brace for impact". Now I would say forget about bracing for impact, we are at impact right now. It may take a few weeks, even months, for the smoke to clear but I suspect that once it does, people will look back on mid-September as the day "it" happened.
As far as what you can do, my guess is you're already doing whatever there is that you can realistically do. So there's not much for me to tell you other than get ready to roll with the punches as things are about to get very interesting. Even the Wall Street Journal is, more or less, saying as much. In an article posted to its website last night, the Journal predicted that today is going to be "the mother of all Mondays":.... Meanwhile, CNBC is referring to yesterday as "Bloody Sunday" while anticipating "massive triage" and a "complete reorganization" of the financial world:.... BBC News is asking "Is this 1930 all over again?" while describing this past weekend as a "signal moment":....
You would think these developments along with Hurricane Ike and the government seizue of Fannie & Freddie would have been enough to wake the general public from its corn-syrup induced narcosis, but my guess is many (most?) people reading this are surrounded by people who *still* don't have a clue as to what is going on. ....
Over the last 12 months there have been a number of times when informed people thought "this is it." Well if today and this past weekend aren't "it", I don't know what is. We now have multiple large banks fighting for their lives and a 10 day disruption in gasoline supplies coming out of the Gulf Coast, both on the heels of the government nationalizing $5 trillion in mortgages and the Big Three automakers all letting it be known that they're going to need government bailouts as well. And that's before we even get to the crisis in Georgia over the BTC pipeline, the war in Nigeria MEND declared, or the rapidly collapsing climate.
About six months ago I wrote on this page it was time to "brace for impact". Now I would say forget about bracing for impact, we are at impact right now. It may take a few weeks, even months, for the smoke to clear but I suspect that once it does, people will look back on mid-September as the day "it" happened.
As far as what you can do, my guess is you're already doing whatever there is that you can realistically do. So there's not much for me to tell you other than get ready to roll with the punches as things are about to get very interesting. Even the Wall Street Journal is, more or less, saying as much. In an article posted to its website last night, the Journal predicted that today is going to be "the mother of all Mondays":.... Meanwhile, CNBC is referring to yesterday as "Bloody Sunday" while anticipating "massive triage" and a "complete reorganization" of the financial world:.... BBC News is asking "Is this 1930 all over again?" while describing this past weekend as a "signal moment":....
You would think these developments along with Hurricane Ike and the government seizue of Fannie & Freddie would have been enough to wake the general public from its corn-syrup induced narcosis, but my guess is many (most?) people reading this are surrounded by people who *still* don't have a clue as to what is going on. ....
Psychological Warfare and Its Fallout
The psychological war for the hearts and minds of Israelis continues. Whether it's the settlers or the chareidim, Torah-observant Jews are being made out to be the enemies of the state and democratic values. The attack on Torah and authentic Judaism and those who adhere to it is felt on many levels. Today, it is being used once again to de-legitimize an entire population so that they may be forcibly removed from their ancestral homes and land. However, its fallout will be felt as far away as Jews have been scattered these last two millenia.
In today's climate of anti-Judaism, it no longer makes sense to have one camp in Israel and another in the Diaspora...just in case. Just take a look at the comments generated by one of the stories linked above:
Frum Jews in the West, please come home. You are needed HERE to strengthen our numbers and our influence!
In today's climate of anti-Judaism, it no longer makes sense to have one camp in Israel and another in the Diaspora...just in case. Just take a look at the comments generated by one of the stories linked above:
1. Stuart SmithJews in chu"l are as much at risk as the Jews in Israel. It makes much more sense in such a climate for us to stick together as ONE camp in ONE land in unity and brotherhood, where we can have the greatest impact---our God-given homeland in Eretz Yisrael.
September 15th, 2008 - 3:46 am
These ultra-orthodox are supported by the tax dollars of a state they did not build and did not fight for. Yet they want to dictate to all. Parasites.
2. William
September 15th, 2008 - 4:14 am
First: This “state” is supported by the tax dollars of another Nation, so it is not REALLY a “state”, it is a WELFARE CLIENT. Second: Remember how the US bombed and invaded Afghanistan to stop the Taliban from using “modesty” squads? HUH? Remember how all the Jews howled and yelped about the Fanatic Muslims? Looks like we should spread FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY to Israel, at least cut off the CHARITY.
3. William
September 15th, 2008 - 4:24 am
William,
I agree there is no difference between any fundamentalist group that wants to control your liberty. However, you must be honest in your assessment. One was supported by the goverenment, this one is a mob mentality. Please be fair instead of inciting the same mob violence as illustrated by this small bunch of fanatics.
4. Bill D
September 15th, 2008 - 4:27 am
What’s next for these crazies? Suicide bombings at movie theaters and other places they deem immoral? Good lord, they are just as evil as any Islamic fanatic…
5. William
September 15th, 2008 - 4:32 am
I have been overly “fair”. WHOSE anti-GENTILE mindset has spread bigotry for millenia? Who is engaged in Ethnic Cleansing of the Native Peoples? The Arabs and Ottoman Turks allowed DIVERSITY in Palestine. It is the current usurpers who could drive Christians and Muslims out. The Zenophobic-Tribalists create the very backlash that they decry.
Frum Jews in the West, please come home. You are needed HERE to strengthen our numbers and our influence!
Duck! Stock Markets Crashing!
Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy threatening most acute financial catastrophe in decades
DEBKAfile: September 15, 2008, 7:49 AM (GMT+02:00)
Sunday night, Barclays and the Bank of America dropped out of bidding to buy Lehman Brothers, the fourth biggest investment bank in the world, and the federal government said there would be no bailout. Ten US and foreign banks have set up a $50bn fund to save troubled companies. The Bank of America opted to save Merril Lynch from buckling instead of Lehman. AIG is also in danger with disastrous effect on the world insurance industry.
Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong stock exchanges were closed Monday by a holiday and insulated from the backlash from New York, but US stock markets are set to tumble when they open promising Monday will be a financial Ides of September. The collapse of the three biggest names on Wall Street threatens to wipe out many billions of dollars from pension funds and the banking and insurance industries in a worldwide chain reaction.
DEBKAfile: September 15, 2008, 7:49 AM (GMT+02:00)
Sunday night, Barclays and the Bank of America dropped out of bidding to buy Lehman Brothers, the fourth biggest investment bank in the world, and the federal government said there would be no bailout. Ten US and foreign banks have set up a $50bn fund to save troubled companies. The Bank of America opted to save Merril Lynch from buckling instead of Lehman. AIG is also in danger with disastrous effect on the world insurance industry.
Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong stock exchanges were closed Monday by a holiday and insulated from the backlash from New York, but US stock markets are set to tumble when they open promising Monday will be a financial Ides of September. The collapse of the three biggest names on Wall Street threatens to wipe out many billions of dollars from pension funds and the banking and insurance industries in a worldwide chain reaction.
14 September 2008
Footnote on Hurricane "IKE"
Many comparisons have been made over the last 24 hours between Hurricane Ike 2008 and the Great Hurricane of 1900 which both zeroed in on Galveston, Texas. It has been noted elsewhere that "Ike" is a nickname or shortened version of the name Isaac. Interestingly, a book written about the 1900 hurricane was called "Isaac's Storm."
They followed similar tracks:
Both storms arrived on Shabbat Parshat Ki Tetzei---the 1900 storm on 14 Elul 5660 and Hurricane Ike on 13 Elul 5768 --- 108 years apart.
What does any of this mean? All I know is that it's no coincidence, because we don't believe in coincidences.
For more information about effects in the aftermath of the storm:
Hurricane Damage Extensive in Texas
Insurers loss from Ike seen from $8 bln to $18 bln
Hurricane Ike hits heart of U.S. oil sector
See the video version of the book Isaac's Storm...
They followed similar tracks:
Both storms arrived on Shabbat Parshat Ki Tetzei---the 1900 storm on 14 Elul 5660 and Hurricane Ike on 13 Elul 5768 --- 108 years apart.
What does any of this mean? All I know is that it's no coincidence, because we don't believe in coincidences.
For more information about effects in the aftermath of the storm:
Hurricane Damage Extensive in Texas
Insurers loss from Ike seen from $8 bln to $18 bln
Hurricane Ike hits heart of U.S. oil sector
See the video version of the book Isaac's Storm...
12 September 2008
Updating "Summer Bubble"?
UPDATE 12 Sep 08: From PrudentBear.com financial advisors...
"The dollar is up in the short term on what we expect is a short covering rally, but that is not consistent with long-term implications, so we don’t expect it to stay up. "
They predicted the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac collapse in Mar '07, 18 months in advance of its occurrence. Repeating the warning passed along in Jun '08 by Mystical Paths :
"...bail on the summer bubble...."
UPDATE 2 Sep 08: Since posting this, the rate has continued to climb as far as 3.61, but this is due in large part to the hundreds of millions of dollars the Bank of Israel has been buying up. It is worth noting that today, they announced the end of this pratice effective 12 November 2008, which is right in line with the timeframe for the dollar's demise given by the rabbis.
Bank of Israel to Stop Buying Dollars
(IsraelNN.com) The Bank of Israel announced Tuesday morning it will stop buying US dollars as of November 12.
The bank has been buying dollars in an effort to stabilize the dollar-shekel rate, which has been dropping steadily since the beginning of the year. The rate on Tuesday morning was NIS 3.61 per US dollar.
A month ago, Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths posted the following:
"...Several tzaddikim have come out in the past week and provided some financial instructions to their talmidim. Things are going to briefly appear to settle, it's momentarily going to look like the crisis is past. Markets will soar, and the US dollar will regain it's strength. But this will be an illusion (in US market terms, a dead cat bounce). By Hoshana Rabbah this year, it will all unravel and the true impact of the financial crisis will be apparent. Markets will fall to record lows, as will the US dollar. Their instructions to their talmidim are: bail on the summer bubble...."
Could that be what is transpiring now?
"The dollar is up in the short term on what we expect is a short covering rally, but that is not consistent with long-term implications, so we don’t expect it to stay up. "
They predicted the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac collapse in Mar '07, 18 months in advance of its occurrence. Repeating the warning passed along in Jun '08 by Mystical Paths :
"...bail on the summer bubble...."
UPDATE 2 Sep 08: Since posting this, the rate has continued to climb as far as 3.61, but this is due in large part to the hundreds of millions of dollars the Bank of Israel has been buying up. It is worth noting that today, they announced the end of this pratice effective 12 November 2008, which is right in line with the timeframe for the dollar's demise given by the rabbis.
Bank of Israel to Stop Buying Dollars
(IsraelNN.com) The Bank of Israel announced Tuesday morning it will stop buying US dollars as of November 12.
The bank has been buying dollars in an effort to stabilize the dollar-shekel rate, which has been dropping steadily since the beginning of the year. The rate on Tuesday morning was NIS 3.61 per US dollar.
A month ago, Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths posted the following:
"...Several tzaddikim have come out in the past week and provided some financial instructions to their talmidim. Things are going to briefly appear to settle, it's momentarily going to look like the crisis is past. Markets will soar, and the US dollar will regain it's strength. But this will be an illusion (in US market terms, a dead cat bounce). By Hoshana Rabbah this year, it will all unravel and the true impact of the financial crisis will be apparent. Markets will fall to record lows, as will the US dollar. Their instructions to their talmidim are: bail on the summer bubble...."
Could that be what is transpiring now?
11 September 2008
My Home Town
Houston is flat and it sits very close to sea level 35 miles inland from Galveston Bay. It is crisscrossed with bayous which help to drain it after the water begins to go down, but in a storm surge, the water backs up. The Houston Ship Channel is as big as a river and makes Houston an inland port. Any tidal surge will bring flood waters right up that channel and into the refineries and chemical companies which line its banks. Because of the direction of air circulation, it is the backside of a hurricane which gets the tidal surge and the higher the wind, the higher the water goes.
HOUSTON - Gleaming skyscrapers, the nation's biggest refinery and NASA's Johnson Space Center lie in areas that could be vulnerable to wind and damaging floodwaters if Hurricane Ike crashes ashore as a major hurricane.
Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall this weekend somewhere between Corpus Christi and Houston, creating the potential for heavy punishment for Houston even if it's not hit directly.
Some forecasts say Ike could strengthen to a fearsome Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 131 mph over the Gulf of Mexico, and emergency officials warned it could drive a storm surge as high as 18 feet.
If current projections of the storm's path hold up, the area surrounding Houston — home to about 4 million people — would be lashed by the eastern or "dirty" side of the storm, said meteorologist Jeff Masters, co-founder of San Francisco-based Weather Underground. This stronger side of the storm often packs heavy rains, walloping storm surge and tornadoes.
"I expect a lot of damage in Houston from this storm," said Masters, adding that Ike could cause a "huge storm surge" affecting at least 100 miles of the Texas coast.
...The surge in Galveston Bay could push floodwaters into Houston, damaging areas that include the nation's biggest refinery and NASA's Johnson Space Center.
...The oil and gas industry also watched the storm closely, fearing damage to the very heart of its operations.
Texas is home to 26 refineries that account for one-fourth of U.S. refining capacity, and most are clustered along the Gulf Coast in such places as Houston, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi. Exxon Mobil Corp.'s plant in Baytown, outside Houston, is the nation's largest refinery. Dow Chemical has a huge operation just north of Corpus Christi.
Refineries are built to withstand high winds, but flooding can disrupt operations and — as happened in Louisiana after Hurricane Gustav — power outages can shut down equipment for days or weeks. An extended shutdown could lead to higher gasoline prices.
09 September 2008
The Big Day for the "Big Bang"
Countdown to man's Big Bang begins
Mark Prigg, Science Correspondent
09.09.08
Scientists are today preparing to switch on the world's biggest scientific experiment.
The £5billion Large Hadron Collider aims to recreate the conditions moments after the Big Bang that created the universe.
Tomorrow morning, it will be switched on and the first attempt to send the particle beam around its entire 27km length will be made.
Mark Prigg, Science Correspondent
09.09.08
Scientists are today preparing to switch on the world's biggest scientific experiment.
The £5billion Large Hadron Collider aims to recreate the conditions moments after the Big Bang that created the universe.
Tomorrow morning, it will be switched on and the first attempt to send the particle beam around its entire 27km length will be made.
05 September 2008
Gustav's Legacy
The storm is gone, but its memory lingers.
Checkpoints, power outages frustrate Gustav evacuees
...The state's power grid sustained severe damage from Gustav, officials say, and it could be weeks before all of it is repaired. Frustrated motorists poured back into the state Tuesday hoping to return home, only to be turned back at checkpoints on all the major highways. Many grew frustrated as they roamed the state like gypsies or sat in motels they could scarcely afford, their cash running low and no way to get more.
"No power, no tissue, no phone, and the lady just came to collect the rent," said elementary school teacher Shondrelle Paul, who with her 11-month-old baby and sister were holed up at the Budget Inn in Gonzales, La. "Money is getting thin."
With no electricity Tuesday, ATMs could not dispense money and restaurants could not open to feed people still unable to return home. Communication was made difficult by spotty cellular and Internet service.
Dozens of hospitals were still running on generator power, several without air conditioning, and there were fears that hundreds of patients might have to be evacuated in the next few days. Only one hospital in New Orleans had the capacity to provide dialysis — though all but one were up and running — and two in the Alexandria area were running low on drinking water.
Convoy after convoy of vehicles — from ambulances to utility repair cherry-pickers to tree removal trucks — rolled into a state that was smacked hard by the storm that blew in Monday. Across southern Louisiana, town after town sat without power. In Village St. George, bands of rain on the back side of Gustav added to confusion after a large power transformer was toppled, leaving cables snaking across all the lanes of Interstate 10 in both directions.
Checkpoints, power outages frustrate Gustav evacuees
...The state's power grid sustained severe damage from Gustav, officials say, and it could be weeks before all of it is repaired. Frustrated motorists poured back into the state Tuesday hoping to return home, only to be turned back at checkpoints on all the major highways. Many grew frustrated as they roamed the state like gypsies or sat in motels they could scarcely afford, their cash running low and no way to get more.
"No power, no tissue, no phone, and the lady just came to collect the rent," said elementary school teacher Shondrelle Paul, who with her 11-month-old baby and sister were holed up at the Budget Inn in Gonzales, La. "Money is getting thin."
With no electricity Tuesday, ATMs could not dispense money and restaurants could not open to feed people still unable to return home. Communication was made difficult by spotty cellular and Internet service.
Dozens of hospitals were still running on generator power, several without air conditioning, and there were fears that hundreds of patients might have to be evacuated in the next few days. Only one hospital in New Orleans had the capacity to provide dialysis — though all but one were up and running — and two in the Alexandria area were running low on drinking water.
Convoy after convoy of vehicles — from ambulances to utility repair cherry-pickers to tree removal trucks — rolled into a state that was smacked hard by the storm that blew in Monday. Across southern Louisiana, town after town sat without power. In Village St. George, bands of rain on the back side of Gustav added to confusion after a large power transformer was toppled, leaving cables snaking across all the lanes of Interstate 10 in both directions.
04 September 2008
Making the Point Clearer
As a Jew, you may agree and you may not, but when this woman says "God" you have to understand that for her, that means J*sus. She's a Pentacostal, one of the most extreme branches of Protestantism. And she will be a heartbeat away from a 72 yr old President, if elected. So what is my alternative, you may ask, a possible Muslim under the influence of a black racist?
My point is that this is no choice for Jews. The only choice you have is Eretz Yisrael. That is your destiny. And this "choice" (between religious extremes) is meant to make that very, very clear to you. Everything in the world is now revolving around religion. If you don't see that, open your eyes.
Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God'
Palin told graduating students of the church's School of Ministry, "What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys." As they preached the love of Jesus throughout Alaska, she said, she'd work to implement God's will from the governor's office, including creating jobs by building a pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to North American markets.
"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.
My point is that this is no choice for Jews. The only choice you have is Eretz Yisrael. That is your destiny. And this "choice" (between religious extremes) is meant to make that very, very clear to you. Everything in the world is now revolving around religion. If you don't see that, open your eyes.
Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God'
Palin told graduating students of the church's School of Ministry, "What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys." As they preached the love of Jesus throughout Alaska, she said, she'd work to implement God's will from the governor's office, including creating jobs by building a pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to North American markets.
"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.
Interesting Read
A ticking Arab time bombTighten your seatbelts: Anger expected to explode in Arab world following Ramadan
03 September 2008
"Nothing New Under the Sun"
Yeshayahu 31:1. "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for aid, and who rely on horses and trust in chariots which are many, and on riders who are very strong, and they did not rely on the Holy One of Israel and the Lord they did not seek."
Egypt Cuts off Flow of Gas Into Israel
Egypt invites Hizballah delegation, recognizes Lebanese terrorist group
Egypt Cuts off Flow of Gas Into Israel
Egypt invites Hizballah delegation, recognizes Lebanese terrorist group
Unwitting Prophecy
Yishai Calls Disengagement 'Miserable Expulsion'
(IsraelNN.com) In an unusually strongly worded statement following the announcement of a cabinet debate on an "expulsion compensation" plan, Shas leader Eli Yishai said that the nation of Israel has not yet healed from "the wounds of the miserable expulsion" and already there are those "illegitimately cooking up a second expulsion."
The government is "a de facto transition government and it is unworthy that someone from within it is leading to situations that the coalition partners find unacceptable," he said.
It sure is---the one leading into the rule of Mashiach Tzidkeinu!
(IsraelNN.com) In an unusually strongly worded statement following the announcement of a cabinet debate on an "expulsion compensation" plan, Shas leader Eli Yishai said that the nation of Israel has not yet healed from "the wounds of the miserable expulsion" and already there are those "illegitimately cooking up a second expulsion."
The government is "a de facto transition government and it is unworthy that someone from within it is leading to situations that the coalition partners find unacceptable," he said.
It sure is---the one leading into the rule of Mashiach Tzidkeinu!
The Chamber of Mashiach
From KabbalaOnline:
Translation and commentary by Rabbi Moshe Yaakov Wisnefsky
Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov ["Israel, Master of the Good Name (of G-d)," 1698 -1760], was the founder of the Chassidic movement. Presented here is the famous letter the Baal Shem Tov wrote to his brother-in-law in the Holy Land, Rabbi Gershon of Kitov, in which he describes his encounter with the soul of the Mashiach, the latter giving him instructions as how to hasten his coming.
This letter was first published in 1781 as an appendix to Ben Porat Yosef [p.128a] by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye, one of the Baal Shem Tov's chief disciples. Since then it has been republished many times in various books. This letter never reached its originally intended destination.
Certain disciples of the Baal Shem Tov made it a practice to study this letter very deeply - some even read it daily - because they realized that it contains the basic elements of the Baal Shem Tov's teachings, which in turn will lead to the revelation of the Mashaich.
This translation is based on the one in R. Aryeh Kaplan's Chassidic Masters, p. 12. The commentary and notes are based mostly on R. Yitzchak Ginsburgh's book Sod HaShem Lireiav, pp. 362-3 (Jerusalem, 1985).
On Rosh Hashanah of the year 5507[1] I performed, by means of oath, an elevation of soul [to the higher spiritual realms], as known to you, and saw wondrous things I had never seen before. That which I saw and learned there is impossible to convey in words, even face to face.
When I returned to the lower Garden of Eden [one of the levels of the abode of departed souls], I saw innumerable souls, both living and dead, some whom I knew and others whom I did not. They were fleeting back and forth, going from one universe to another through the Column[2] that is known to those who delve in mysteries. Their state of joy was so great that lips cannot express it, and the physical ear is too gross to hear it.
There were also many wicked people who had repented; their sins were forgiven, since this was a special time of grace. Even to my eyes it was wondrous how many were accepted as penitents, many of whom you know. There was great joy among them too, and they also ascended in the above mentioned manner.
All of them beseeched and petitioned me unceasingly: "Because of the glory of your Torah, G-d granted you greater understanding to perceive and know these things. Ascend with us, so that you can be our help and support."
Because of the great joy that I saw among them, I decided to ascend with them. Due to the great danger involved in ascending to the supernal universes, I asked my master (Achiya the Shilonite[3]) to come with me, as I had never before ascended to such a high level. I ascended from level to level until I entered the chamber of the Mashiach[4], where the Mashiach learns Torah with all the sages and tzadikim and also with the Seven Shepherds[5]
I saw great joy there, but I did not know the reason for it. At first I thought that the reason for this joy was because I had passed away from the physical world, heaven forbid. Later, they told me that my time had not yet come to die, since they have great pleasure on high when I bring about Unifications through the holy Torah down below. To this very day, I do not know the reason for that joy.
The question which follows had already been posed to the Mashiach in Talmudic times by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi (Talmud Sanhedrin 98a). Then, the answer was: "Today", which was interpreted by the prophet Elijah as meaning: "Today - if you would only listen to G-d's voice" (Psalms 95:7). According to Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch (Likutei Dibburim, Simchat Torah 5690, #30 [p. 618ff]), the Baal Shem Tov was in effect saying to the Mashiach: "We have already listened to His voice, even to the extent of giving up our lives in order to do so. Why, then, have you not come?"
I asked the Mashiach: "When will the Master come?", and he answered: "By this you shall know:
In the time when your teaching will become public and revealed in the world, and your wellsprings will burst forth to the farthest extremes, that which I have taught you and you have comprehended, and they also shall be able to perform unifications and elevations as you, and then all of the kelipot will cease to exist, and there shall be a time of good will and salvation."
The Mashiach sets five conditions for his coming; each of these is a step in a cumulative process:
1. "Your teachings will become public and revealed in the world": As is known, for most mystics and spiritual-focused people becoming a public figure is a very painful experience. Nonetheless, it is a challenge that must be faced if one's insights and teachings are to affect the world.
2. "Your wellsprings will burst forth to the farthest extremes" (Proverbs 5:16): His whole self, his "wellspring," must be revealed. If Mashiach is to come, everyone must be able to experience something of what it is like to be the Baal Shem Tov.
3. "That which I have taught you and what you have comprehended [yourself]": Expressible ideas and even those ideas that are inherently inexpressible must be revealed.
4. "They also shall be able to perform unifications and elevations as you": The Baal Shem Tov's power of unification must become public domain. In its simplest sense, this means that everyone must subscribe to the Baal Shem Tov's doctrine of the equality-of-soul of all Jewish people, the basis of his infinite love of all Jews (see Tanya ch. 32).
5. "All the kelipot will cease to exist and there shall be a time of good will and salvation": Evil can be eradicated and the transcendent light of G-d can shine. The eradication of evil on this level can be understood as seeing it as ultimately good. This, however, cannot be successfully accomplished without first attaining the previous four levels.
I stood in wonder and great distress as to the length of time necessary for this, when can this be?! But from that which I learned there - three potent practices and three Holy Names, easy to learn and explain - my mind settled, and I thought that possibly by means of these, men of my nature will be able to achieve levels similar to mine. They would then be able to ascend, learn and perceive, just like myself. But I was not given permission all the days of my life to reveal this.
Nonetheless, according to Rabbi Mordechai of Neshchiz (1748-1800), the Baal Shem Tov alluded to these practices in the continuation of his letter (Imrei Kodesh 40; Sefer Baal Shem Tov p. 122, end of note 13).
For your sake, I made a request that I might be allowed to teach this to you, but permission was denied. I am still bound by this oath, but this may I inform you and may G-d help you, your way shall ever be in the presence of G-d and never leave your consciousness in the time of your prayer and study. And every word of your lips intend to unite (i.e., be aware of and meditate upon each word): for in every letter there are Worlds and Souls and Divinity, and they ascend and connect and unify with each other, and afterward the letters connect and unify to become a word, and [then] unify in true unification in Divinity.
In every letter there are Worlds: These are the "three potent practices" alluded to earlier in the letter, and are among the basic teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. For a detailed description of this technique, see The Hebrew Letters by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh.
Here, only two verbs are used: "connect and unify." In the following phrase, "And [then] unify in true unification in Divinity," only one verb, "unify," appears. From this we learn that, in particular, there are three stages of meditation: meditation of the secrets of individual letters; meditation on the dynamic process of letters combining to form meaningful words; and, in the terminology of Tanya (II, ch.12 [89b]), meditation on the "light above all" which spontaneously appears around the total structure of a finished word.
Include your soul with them in each and every state. All the worlds unify as one and ascend to produce an infinitely great joy and pleasure, as you can understand from the joy of groom and bride in miniature and physicality: in the physical microcosm, how much more so in such an exalted level as this. Surely G-d will be your aid and wherever you turn you will succeed and reach greater awareness. "Give to the wise and he will become ever wiser." (Proverbs 9:9)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes:
[1] This was 12 years and 12 days after the Baal Shem Tov had begun teaching publicly (18 Elul, 5494 [1734 C.E.]). Since the Baal Shem Tov taught publicly until his passing in 1760, the events described in this letter occurred at the mid-point of this period.
[2] That rises from the Lower to the Higher Garden of Eden (see Tanya, ch. 39 [52a]).
[3] Achiya, mentioned in Kings I 11:29, 14:2, is said to be from the generation of the Exodus and was the mentor of the prophet Elijah. See Toldot Yaakov Yosef, Balak (p. 575), Keter Shem Tov 143
[4] referred to in the Zohar as "the bird's nest"; it is described in detail at the end of Etz Chaim.
[5] as listed in Talmud Sukka 52b: Adam, Seth, Methuselah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David. In the Zohar (3:103b): Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi Moshe Yaakov Wisnefsky
Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov ["Israel, Master of the Good Name (of G-d)," 1698 -1760], was the founder of the Chassidic movement. Presented here is the famous letter the Baal Shem Tov wrote to his brother-in-law in the Holy Land, Rabbi Gershon of Kitov, in which he describes his encounter with the soul of the Mashiach, the latter giving him instructions as how to hasten his coming.
This letter was first published in 1781 as an appendix to Ben Porat Yosef [p.128a] by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye, one of the Baal Shem Tov's chief disciples. Since then it has been republished many times in various books. This letter never reached its originally intended destination.
Certain disciples of the Baal Shem Tov made it a practice to study this letter very deeply - some even read it daily - because they realized that it contains the basic elements of the Baal Shem Tov's teachings, which in turn will lead to the revelation of the Mashaich.
This translation is based on the one in R. Aryeh Kaplan's Chassidic Masters, p. 12. The commentary and notes are based mostly on R. Yitzchak Ginsburgh's book Sod HaShem Lireiav, pp. 362-3 (Jerusalem, 1985).
On Rosh Hashanah of the year 5507[1] I performed, by means of oath, an elevation of soul [to the higher spiritual realms], as known to you, and saw wondrous things I had never seen before. That which I saw and learned there is impossible to convey in words, even face to face.
When I returned to the lower Garden of Eden [one of the levels of the abode of departed souls], I saw innumerable souls, both living and dead, some whom I knew and others whom I did not. They were fleeting back and forth, going from one universe to another through the Column[2] that is known to those who delve in mysteries. Their state of joy was so great that lips cannot express it, and the physical ear is too gross to hear it.
There were also many wicked people who had repented; their sins were forgiven, since this was a special time of grace. Even to my eyes it was wondrous how many were accepted as penitents, many of whom you know. There was great joy among them too, and they also ascended in the above mentioned manner.
All of them beseeched and petitioned me unceasingly: "Because of the glory of your Torah, G-d granted you greater understanding to perceive and know these things. Ascend with us, so that you can be our help and support."
Because of the great joy that I saw among them, I decided to ascend with them. Due to the great danger involved in ascending to the supernal universes, I asked my master (Achiya the Shilonite[3]) to come with me, as I had never before ascended to such a high level. I ascended from level to level until I entered the chamber of the Mashiach[4], where the Mashiach learns Torah with all the sages and tzadikim and also with the Seven Shepherds[5]
I saw great joy there, but I did not know the reason for it. At first I thought that the reason for this joy was because I had passed away from the physical world, heaven forbid. Later, they told me that my time had not yet come to die, since they have great pleasure on high when I bring about Unifications through the holy Torah down below. To this very day, I do not know the reason for that joy.
The question which follows had already been posed to the Mashiach in Talmudic times by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi (Talmud Sanhedrin 98a). Then, the answer was: "Today", which was interpreted by the prophet Elijah as meaning: "Today - if you would only listen to G-d's voice" (Psalms 95:7). According to Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch (Likutei Dibburim, Simchat Torah 5690, #30 [p. 618ff]), the Baal Shem Tov was in effect saying to the Mashiach: "We have already listened to His voice, even to the extent of giving up our lives in order to do so. Why, then, have you not come?"
I asked the Mashiach: "When will the Master come?", and he answered: "By this you shall know:
In the time when your teaching will become public and revealed in the world, and your wellsprings will burst forth to the farthest extremes, that which I have taught you and you have comprehended, and they also shall be able to perform unifications and elevations as you, and then all of the kelipot will cease to exist, and there shall be a time of good will and salvation."
The Mashiach sets five conditions for his coming; each of these is a step in a cumulative process:
1. "Your teachings will become public and revealed in the world": As is known, for most mystics and spiritual-focused people becoming a public figure is a very painful experience. Nonetheless, it is a challenge that must be faced if one's insights and teachings are to affect the world.
2. "Your wellsprings will burst forth to the farthest extremes" (Proverbs 5:16): His whole self, his "wellspring," must be revealed. If Mashiach is to come, everyone must be able to experience something of what it is like to be the Baal Shem Tov.
3. "That which I have taught you and what you have comprehended [yourself]": Expressible ideas and even those ideas that are inherently inexpressible must be revealed.
4. "They also shall be able to perform unifications and elevations as you": The Baal Shem Tov's power of unification must become public domain. In its simplest sense, this means that everyone must subscribe to the Baal Shem Tov's doctrine of the equality-of-soul of all Jewish people, the basis of his infinite love of all Jews (see Tanya ch. 32).
5. "All the kelipot will cease to exist and there shall be a time of good will and salvation": Evil can be eradicated and the transcendent light of G-d can shine. The eradication of evil on this level can be understood as seeing it as ultimately good. This, however, cannot be successfully accomplished without first attaining the previous four levels.
I stood in wonder and great distress as to the length of time necessary for this, when can this be?! But from that which I learned there - three potent practices and three Holy Names, easy to learn and explain - my mind settled, and I thought that possibly by means of these, men of my nature will be able to achieve levels similar to mine. They would then be able to ascend, learn and perceive, just like myself. But I was not given permission all the days of my life to reveal this.
Nonetheless, according to Rabbi Mordechai of Neshchiz (1748-1800), the Baal Shem Tov alluded to these practices in the continuation of his letter (Imrei Kodesh 40; Sefer Baal Shem Tov p. 122, end of note 13).
For your sake, I made a request that I might be allowed to teach this to you, but permission was denied. I am still bound by this oath, but this may I inform you and may G-d help you, your way shall ever be in the presence of G-d and never leave your consciousness in the time of your prayer and study. And every word of your lips intend to unite (i.e., be aware of and meditate upon each word): for in every letter there are Worlds and Souls and Divinity, and they ascend and connect and unify with each other, and afterward the letters connect and unify to become a word, and [then] unify in true unification in Divinity.
In every letter there are Worlds: These are the "three potent practices" alluded to earlier in the letter, and are among the basic teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. For a detailed description of this technique, see The Hebrew Letters by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh.
Here, only two verbs are used: "connect and unify." In the following phrase, "And [then] unify in true unification in Divinity," only one verb, "unify," appears. From this we learn that, in particular, there are three stages of meditation: meditation of the secrets of individual letters; meditation on the dynamic process of letters combining to form meaningful words; and, in the terminology of Tanya (II, ch.12 [89b]), meditation on the "light above all" which spontaneously appears around the total structure of a finished word.
Include your soul with them in each and every state. All the worlds unify as one and ascend to produce an infinitely great joy and pleasure, as you can understand from the joy of groom and bride in miniature and physicality: in the physical microcosm, how much more so in such an exalted level as this. Surely G-d will be your aid and wherever you turn you will succeed and reach greater awareness. "Give to the wise and he will become ever wiser." (Proverbs 9:9)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes:
[1] This was 12 years and 12 days after the Baal Shem Tov had begun teaching publicly (18 Elul, 5494 [1734 C.E.]). Since the Baal Shem Tov taught publicly until his passing in 1760, the events described in this letter occurred at the mid-point of this period.
[2] That rises from the Lower to the Higher Garden of Eden (see Tanya, ch. 39 [52a]).
[3] Achiya, mentioned in Kings I 11:29, 14:2, is said to be from the generation of the Exodus and was the mentor of the prophet Elijah. See Toldot Yaakov Yosef, Balak (p. 575), Keter Shem Tov 143
[4] referred to in the Zohar as "the bird's nest"; it is described in detail at the end of Etz Chaim.
[5] as listed in Talmud Sukka 52b: Adam, Seth, Methuselah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David. In the Zohar (3:103b): Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.
02 September 2008
Some Words Regarding Sarah Palin
[ADVANCE NOTE: This is a very deep subject that I am about to get into, way too much for a blog. All I can really do in this space is point you in the right direction. Most of the important information will be linked, but it is long and time-consuming. It would be well worth your while to educate yourself on these subjects. The information is especially critical for American Jews.]
You will not find many comments from me on the US elections. I'm still not convinced Ole George will leave office. But what I'm beginning to hear from Jews about the Republican VP candidate has me concerned.
Take today's article from Israel National News as a case in point.
Republicans Say Palin's Israeli Flag Says It All
...The Republican Jewish Coalition has pointed out that an Israeli flag is a fixture on the drapes in her office. "I think it speaks volumes that she keeps an Israeli flag on the wall of her office," the group's executive director, Matt Brooks, explained in an e-mail to Politico.com. "It clearly shows what's in her heart."
Are we really so easily placated, so blithely bought off? The article wraps up with this gem of an assessment:
"...Gov. Palin is a likely Israeli backer because she is 'a very religious person, and the religious Christians are the greatest supporters of Israel,' according to the Hawaii's Jewish governor, Linda Lingle, also a Republican."
What neither the media nor the political pundits are going to expose, mainly because they are most probably completely unaware of it as yet, is the real danger of ending up with a President who is a Dominionist by belief and conviction.
Before I get into that, let me give you some background:
Evangelicals energized by McCain-Palin ticket
...Gary Bauer, one of McCain's most enthusiastic evangelical supporters, said the Arizona senator had hit a "grand slam home run" and that adding Palin to the GOP ticket is "guaranteed to energize values voters."
...The 44-year-old mother of five, who led her high school chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was baptized as a teenager at the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, where she and her family were very active, according to her then-pastor, Paul Riley.
She now sometimes worships at the Juneau Christian Center, which is also part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God, said Brad Kesler, business administrator of the denomination's Alaska District. But her home church is The Church on the Rock, an independent congregation, Riley said.
The questions to ask here are: Who is Gary Bauer? And why is the Pentecostal connection important?
Gary Bauer Profile
Gary Bauer, a major figure of the Christian Right and former presidential candidate, has been a key organizer of campaigns linking rightist pro-Israel Christian groups and conservative Christian evangelicals.
He is connected with, among many other things, Jerusalem Summit (International Advisory Board Chairman) and American Alliance of Jews and Christians (Cofounder, 2002).
He is also a Dominionist, as are most of the Republican, right-wing, fundamentalist Xian, neo-Fascist politicians.
[DISCLAIMER: I am not an American citizen. I do not vote. I believe both candidates are equally bad for the Jews and for Israel, so this is not a knee-jerk Democratic response to the Palin pick.]
The article Theocratic Sect Prays for Real Armageddon is a must read. Here are some excerpts:
...Tattooed across [Todd Bentley's] sternum are military dog tags that read "Joel's Army." They're evidence of Bentley's generalship in a rapidly growing apocalyptic movement that's gone largely unnoticed by watchdogs of the theocratic right. According to Bentley and a handful of other "hyper-charismatic" preachers advancing the same agenda, Joel's Army is prophesied to become an Armageddon-ready military force of young people with a divine mandate to physically impose Christian "dominion" on non-believers.
"An end-time army has one common purpose -- to aggressively take ground for the kingdom of God under the authority of Jesus Christ, the Dread Champion," Bentley declares on the website for his ministry school in British Columbia, Canada. "The trumpet is sounding, calling on-fire, revolutionary believers to enlist in Joel's Army. ... Many are now ready to be mobilized to establish and advance God's kingdom on earth."
...Joel's Army believers are hard-core Christian dominionists, meaning they believe that America, along with the rest of the world, should be governed by conservative Christians and a conservative Christian interpretation of biblical law. There is no room in their doctrine for democracy or pluralism.
Dominionism's original branch is Christian Reconstructionism, a grim, Calvinist call to theocracy that, as Reconstructionist writer Gary North describes, wants to "get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God."
...Reconstructionists have made several serious forays into mainstream politics....
...several Joel's Army pastors are addressed by their congregants as "commandant" or "commander"....
..."As the church begins to take on this resolve, they [Joel's Army churches] will start to be thought of more as military bases, and they will begin to take on the characteristics of military bases for training, equipping, and deploying effective spiritual forces," Joyner wrote. "In time, the church will actually be organized more as a military force with an army, navy, air force, etc."
Are they perhaps already on their way with Erik Prince's (Erik Prince is a multi-millionaire fundamentalist Christian from a powerful Michigan Republican family.) Blackwater? And with such luminaries at the head of the US military like General William Boykin? (Google also the Manifest Sons of God.)
Imagine Joel's Army patrolling the streets of America...or the streets of Jerusalem, G-d forbid!
One thing is clear. With the Democrats holding forth a candidate with ties to Islam, and the Republicans putting forth candidates with connections to the new Crusaders, there really is no longer any place for Jews.
The question begs to be asked, why are these people making so many ties to Jews and Israel? They are expecting the imminent return of their false messiah and expect him to rule and reign from Jerusalem. Those who are already here to greet him will get choice positions of power in his new world government. They are expecting at least a third of Israel to "recognize" the "truth" of their false religion and mass convert and they feel that those Jews with whom they have made inroads will be the ripest for plucking.
They intend to take over...by force if necessary.
The lesson of all this is...don't be so easily taken in and stop looking for "friends" in high places. We have our own country to make something out of and we have HKBH. We don't need to curry favor with the goyim. It only makes us look bad and they have no respect for us. And anyway, they are on their way down and we are on the way up. Have some dignity and self-respect for a change. Stop being so needy for goyische approval. To hell with them all along with their nefarious plans!
You will not find many comments from me on the US elections. I'm still not convinced Ole George will leave office. But what I'm beginning to hear from Jews about the Republican VP candidate has me concerned.
Take today's article from Israel National News as a case in point.
Republicans Say Palin's Israeli Flag Says It All
...The Republican Jewish Coalition has pointed out that an Israeli flag is a fixture on the drapes in her office. "I think it speaks volumes that she keeps an Israeli flag on the wall of her office," the group's executive director, Matt Brooks, explained in an e-mail to Politico.com. "It clearly shows what's in her heart."
Are we really so easily placated, so blithely bought off? The article wraps up with this gem of an assessment:
"...Gov. Palin is a likely Israeli backer because she is 'a very religious person, and the religious Christians are the greatest supporters of Israel,' according to the Hawaii's Jewish governor, Linda Lingle, also a Republican."
What neither the media nor the political pundits are going to expose, mainly because they are most probably completely unaware of it as yet, is the real danger of ending up with a President who is a Dominionist by belief and conviction.
Before I get into that, let me give you some background:
Evangelicals energized by McCain-Palin ticket
...Gary Bauer, one of McCain's most enthusiastic evangelical supporters, said the Arizona senator had hit a "grand slam home run" and that adding Palin to the GOP ticket is "guaranteed to energize values voters."
...The 44-year-old mother of five, who led her high school chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was baptized as a teenager at the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, where she and her family were very active, according to her then-pastor, Paul Riley.
She now sometimes worships at the Juneau Christian Center, which is also part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God, said Brad Kesler, business administrator of the denomination's Alaska District. But her home church is The Church on the Rock, an independent congregation, Riley said.
The questions to ask here are: Who is Gary Bauer? And why is the Pentecostal connection important?
Gary Bauer Profile
Gary Bauer, a major figure of the Christian Right and former presidential candidate, has been a key organizer of campaigns linking rightist pro-Israel Christian groups and conservative Christian evangelicals.
He is connected with, among many other things, Jerusalem Summit (International Advisory Board Chairman) and American Alliance of Jews and Christians (Cofounder, 2002).
He is also a Dominionist, as are most of the Republican, right-wing, fundamentalist Xian, neo-Fascist politicians.
[DISCLAIMER: I am not an American citizen. I do not vote. I believe both candidates are equally bad for the Jews and for Israel, so this is not a knee-jerk Democratic response to the Palin pick.]
The article Theocratic Sect Prays for Real Armageddon is a must read. Here are some excerpts:
...Tattooed across [Todd Bentley's] sternum are military dog tags that read "Joel's Army." They're evidence of Bentley's generalship in a rapidly growing apocalyptic movement that's gone largely unnoticed by watchdogs of the theocratic right. According to Bentley and a handful of other "hyper-charismatic" preachers advancing the same agenda, Joel's Army is prophesied to become an Armageddon-ready military force of young people with a divine mandate to physically impose Christian "dominion" on non-believers.
"An end-time army has one common purpose -- to aggressively take ground for the kingdom of God under the authority of Jesus Christ, the Dread Champion," Bentley declares on the website for his ministry school in British Columbia, Canada. "The trumpet is sounding, calling on-fire, revolutionary believers to enlist in Joel's Army. ... Many are now ready to be mobilized to establish and advance God's kingdom on earth."
...Joel's Army believers are hard-core Christian dominionists, meaning they believe that America, along with the rest of the world, should be governed by conservative Christians and a conservative Christian interpretation of biblical law. There is no room in their doctrine for democracy or pluralism.
Dominionism's original branch is Christian Reconstructionism, a grim, Calvinist call to theocracy that, as Reconstructionist writer Gary North describes, wants to "get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God."
...Reconstructionists have made several serious forays into mainstream politics....
...several Joel's Army pastors are addressed by their congregants as "commandant" or "commander"....
..."As the church begins to take on this resolve, they [Joel's Army churches] will start to be thought of more as military bases, and they will begin to take on the characteristics of military bases for training, equipping, and deploying effective spiritual forces," Joyner wrote. "In time, the church will actually be organized more as a military force with an army, navy, air force, etc."
Are they perhaps already on their way with Erik Prince's (Erik Prince is a multi-millionaire fundamentalist Christian from a powerful Michigan Republican family.) Blackwater? And with such luminaries at the head of the US military like General William Boykin? (Google also the Manifest Sons of God.)
Imagine Joel's Army patrolling the streets of America...or the streets of Jerusalem, G-d forbid!
One thing is clear. With the Democrats holding forth a candidate with ties to Islam, and the Republicans putting forth candidates with connections to the new Crusaders, there really is no longer any place for Jews.
The question begs to be asked, why are these people making so many ties to Jews and Israel? They are expecting the imminent return of their false messiah and expect him to rule and reign from Jerusalem. Those who are already here to greet him will get choice positions of power in his new world government. They are expecting at least a third of Israel to "recognize" the "truth" of their false religion and mass convert and they feel that those Jews with whom they have made inroads will be the ripest for plucking.
They intend to take over...by force if necessary.
The lesson of all this is...don't be so easily taken in and stop looking for "friends" in high places. We have our own country to make something out of and we have HKBH. We don't need to curry favor with the goyim. It only makes us look bad and they have no respect for us. And anyway, they are on their way down and we are on the way up. Have some dignity and self-respect for a change. Stop being so needy for goyische approval. To hell with them all along with their nefarious plans!
01 September 2008
Hashem's Wonders
Reported wind gusts of 117 mph blast southern Louisiana as intense squall lines from Category 3 Hurricane Gustav lash the region after a historic evacuation
[PERSONAL NOTE: I grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast and still have family there. Hurricanes are in my blood. They never lose their thrill. The first one in my memory is Hurricane Carla from 1961. It was during this storm that I lived through my first tornado.]