31 July 2015

A New Stage Has Begun on TU b'Av

15 Menachem Av 5775
Erev Shabbat Kodesh

All it takes is some graffiti scribbled in Hebrew with a Star of David to set off a door-to-door IDF search for "Jewish terrorists" and an international cry for settler heads. A fire was set in Shechem which spread to four Arab homes burning the occupants and killing a toddler. Hebrew graffiti - "Long live the King Messiah" - was left behind to "prove" it was a barbarous "Jewish" terror attack on Arabs.

Despite the numbers of times previous "price tag" attacks have been proven to be carried out by the Arabs themselves in the hope that Jews would be blamed, it's still the self-hating, Torah-despising so-called Jews, politicians, rabbis, and assorted others, who are the first to jump onto the bandwagon of public, world-wide condemnation.

Thank God last week's vote in the Knesset calling for the death penalty for terrorists was defeated or else whatever Jews might be framed for this crime would no doubt be the first to be executed under it. The Jew-haters would have loved that!

This event has all the appearance of being a page right out of the US False-Flag Playbook. And that would also include the kidnap-murder of the Arab boy last summer as well as the church "attack" a few weeks ago, right down to the ongoing military drills. Last week there was a "surprise" call-up of reserves and today the IDF is being deployed throughout Judea and Samaria in huge numbers.

It's also highly suspicious that the parade attacker was released from prison only three weeks before the to'evah parade was scheduled to take place once again. Surely, the prison authorities should have been aware of his mental state and the likelihood of a repetition of his previous behavior. A reasonable person would have felt it prudent to at the very least delay his release until the days following the parade. That is, unless he performed precisely as they hoped.

I wish you Shabbat shalom with the clear and unwavering faith that gam zu l'tovah!

Two Down, One to Go

15 Menachem Av 5775
Erev Shabbat Kodesh

According to the Jewish sages of about two-thousand years ago...

...The nations are allowed to continue in existence only because they keep a minimum of three mitzvos. These are:

(1) not writing marriage documents for the union of two males,...

Supreme Court: Same-sex couples can marry in all 50 states

(2) not selling human flesh in the market place,...

Planned Parenthood Plots Sale of Legally-Alive Fetuses

(3) and giving honor to the Torah—which in practice means, not persecuting the people of the Torah, the Jewish people.

???

...Implicit is the assumption that if the nations do not abide by at least the aforementioned three mitzvos, they may forfeit the very right to exist. (Source)

"All the Exit Doors Are Closing"

15 Menachem Av 5775
Erev Shabbat Kodesh

(h/t commenter "us updates")

We've Become The Disintegrating Dis-United States Of America - And All The Exit Doors Are Closing

The story today from The Washington Standard tells us about 72 different kinds of Americans who the government has now labeled 'potential terrorists' and who may soon lose the right to travel out of the country if a new bill being debated in Congress is passed and signed by Barack Obama. The FTO Passport Revocation Act Of 2015 would strip law-abiding Americans of their ability to leave the country and as shared by this story on Infowars.:

"The Secretary of State may refuse to issue a passport to any individual whom the Secretary has determined has aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise helped an organization the Secretary has designated as a foreign terrorist organization,” the text states. “The Secretary of State may revoke a passport previously issued to any individual” whom Secretary of State John Kerry, or future administrations that could be even more radical, unilaterally decides may have done any of those things. The terms are left undefined, opening up widespread potential for abuse, and there is no appeals process outlined in the legislation.

Anyone who has been 'wrongly' caught up in this 'web' will have no recourse to appeal nor trial to determine if this legislation is 'just' and seeing that the House of Representatives has already passed (after less than 15 minutes of debate!) HR 237, only this bill passing in the Senate and Obama's signature stands between Americans and the next stage of tyranny; Americans completely locked in 'police state' America - with all of the exit doors closing.

30 July 2015

"The Wickedness Is Conquering The World" - Q and A, Pt 2

15 Menachem Av 5775
TU b'Av

BS"D


Communication with Binyamin

Jerusalem, 21 Tamuz 5775

The Wickedness Is Conquering The World - Questions and Answers, Pt 2 of 2


...Q. You all said once that we will arrive at a situation that will really require true mesirut nefesh [self-sacrifice] literally, is it really facing us, in this period?...

A. Yes, yes. I don't know how it will look, I do know that the Jews are already beginning to suffer very harshly from the gentiles, and shortly it will be much more difficult. Also in the United States it will be, and there will be a lot of riots, and it has already started, because in short order the economy will fall all over the world 'not for no reason', and it started the decline in Greece, and they have another few countries who will fall after Greece. And also, Europe will fall. I believe that they will do it not in one big collapse, but a little at a time, it will come in 'stages'.

But, today they're already talking about China! That China is in a difficult economic situation! And it's clear that they have to be like this, many times we've spoken about it, because China is a totally primitive country, they grew very much, and fast. They're huge, and this hugeness makes it difficult to control all its parts. It's correct that it's the strongest economy in the world, but it's not built well. So, therefore, with the whole world falling - who will buy China's things? And it could be that they bought a lot of gold, I don't know how much, but it won't help them if there is no one to buy what they're selling. And if they have the gold, who says the gold will still be so expensive, who says it will be such a valuable thing at all, that anyone will care about gold. In any case, now they're likely to fall 'not for no reason', and if it is part of the plan, because they're already stealing most of the money from the banks, then now they have the places where it is concealed.

But, the banks themselves - they're all of them on the brink of bankruptcy, because most of the worth of the bank is not in cash, everything there is just in 'numbers', the capital of most of the banks. And the moment that they don't repay the debt the bank will collapse, and the moment that the banks collapse they will start taking out from people's accounts. From those who have money in accounts, they will take out the money that they want. Now, there is a law that the moment they put the money in the bank it belongs to the bank, and not to the person! And if they need it to sustain the bank, then they will 'get rid' of it. Already in Greece, they are planning to take money from people's accounts, and people are very worried about it. But, here there is a situation in which they will also take all of the people's money, and this will be the 'last  theft' - until nothing will remain. And then there will be hungry people, angry people, they will fight each other for a piece of bread and etc., etc. This is the plan, but Hashem has His own plan, and now we'll see, we'll see what will happen, but I know that no Jewish neshamah will be lost.

Q. So has the time come now to gather food like in Greece citizens are now hoarding quantities of food?

A. I've said the whole time: you can keep some 'two weeks' of food so there will be a basis for a miracle, Hashem will make miracles for us. Aside from this, in Israel it won't be as bad as outside of it. Outside of Israel - that's something else. There, outside of Israel, it will be a mess 'not for no reason', it will be something terrible. In Israel it won't be so bad, but it will be bad enough, not like outside of Israel. Here, they need some one place to remain that in it will be their center...

...Q. ISIS is already so close to us, down south, in Sinai! It's most frightening. What do you say?

A. I say to you thus, this ISIS - they're a creation of the 'New World Order' people. It's really stupid to think it was born this way. Let's say they will recount: 'Tens of thousands of Europeans fled - and decided to become soldiers...', of course not! It must be an army, with training of an army, that knows also how to use a weapon. The weapon of today is not a simple thing, it's much more complicated than it once was. It's not 'canons', that they put in it a ball and 'boom'... No, it's all complicated. And if they're so successful - then it's very clear that there are more people working with them, many more. And of course, more receiving guidance from America, from England, and from Europe and etc. They're using them to destroy the Arabs. And I heard today that they're saying that we here are next in line on their list after Egypt... Hashem will help.

But, I'll tell you another thing: how can they let ISIS come here? How can they make this march?!... This ISIS will take off everyone's heads!... So, clearly, they're not going to let them come in here... But, I think, I don't know, that this whole story will be totally an excuse, a reason to fill Eretz Yisrael with foreign soldiers, that supposedly will come to fight against ISIS, after ISIS makes so many problems in all other countries.

Q. They're saying that there's a star close to the planet and according to various forecasts in the future it will hit the United States. Have you heard about it?

A. It's a big question if it's real or not. And it could be that the evildoers will simply go into their bunkers, and will make a war like there is such a thing. And the war will be with what they're calling  "weather", that they already know how to make hurricanes, tornadoes, and etc., etc., and even that a volcano will erupt.... And also a tsunami, etc., And it could be that it's the weapon that they're mainly using. And that's not to say that they won't hurl some nuclear-bomb on a few cities, just to show that there is a 'war'. But, in any case, there are many who think that this whole story about a star - it's just 'make-believe', that this thing is not exact, or it doesn't exist, or that of course, it's not coming to the United States or any other place on the planet. And there are those who are saying that it will pass nearby the planet and that's what will result in all the problems in the weather, etc., but I personally, I don't think so. HKB"H will surely destroy two-thirds of the world, but He doesn't need a 'star' to do it, if He uses a star - then the star will do it, and it's a thing that needs to be clear to everyone, who it is that's punishing them: only HKB"H.

Q. 'B'motzaei shvi'it Ben David bah' - thus it's written in the Gemara, I don't believe it's relevant to wait another eight years, until the next motzaei shmittah...

A. God forbid, God forbid.

Q. Moving on, 'In Nisan we were redeemed, in Nisan we will be redeemed'..., when in Nisan? Surely at Pesach, on seder night, and that's 290 days from today. So, we can begin the 'countdown'...

A. Exactly. And we can see more and more how they're controlling and how they're being exposed, and how they're not afraid, and they're really drunk on their success, and it will finish them. But don't worry, Mashiach is already here. He can't arrive suddenly one moment before he is revealed. He's here, he's already here, and we're just waiting for it, that he will be revealed. And Hashem will help us, and we will see in the nearest future like big miracles, like things that will happen that we won't be able to believe our eyes, but in the end it will also hardly be possible to get through it and to remain alive. But we will remain alive, and we will get through it, and Hashem will help us, and we will merit to receive our righteous Mashiach, with God's help - all Am Yisrael.

Jerusalem - The International(ized) City

14 Menachem Av 5775

And destined to be the New World Order Capital of the World??? As the old saying goes: "Man plans and God laughs."

As we have already been informed, some of these people are the gilgulim of the Dor Haflagah - the ones who built the Tower of Bavel - and it appears that they still like building towers...



And, of course, to seal their connection to Egypt and the West, it must look like a pyramid and be named "Freedom" - ironic since both Egypt and Rome were famous for enslaving people.

According to the Jerusalem Construction News blog, this is supposed to be part of the luxury business complex being built at the entrance to Jerusalem (not far from the Knesset) - the area where Jewish sources already informed us was the place where the Erev Rav concentrate their power.

This construction will include...

"...200 luxury apartments, a boutique hotel, rooftop restaurant, retail stores, an outdoor public plaza and lookout points.

The half-stone, half-glass 105-meter (345-foot) structure will feature Jewish motifs throughout such as Stars of David that will be embedded throughout the building’s exterior."

As has been pointed out by many others, Jews trying to live in our holy city cannot afford to buy these places. Binyamin Golden says it is for the use of those that the Vatican is bringing with it when it moves here. More and more, Jerusalem is being turned into a kind of living museum for the ease and comfort and attraction of the tourism industry and less and less hospitable or within the economic reach of resident Israelis.

And let's not forget that this area also hosts that monument to western culture and the Judeo-Xian-Islamic New World Religion - Cinema City.



While across the city, another movie complex is getting set to open and be operational on Shabbat, for the sake of the gentiles and Jews who mechalel Shabbat.


...The new complex includes 16 movie theaters (I MAX) situated on 28,500 square meters. There is an underground parking lot with 400 parking spaces. Operators boast a pub will be opening offering 55 different beers on tap, along with many restaurants and eateries.  (Source)

Jerusalem is being turned from the city loved by the prophets to a city that loves its profits.

29 July 2015

Rabbi Kahane's Final Warning

13 Menachem Av 5775

Rabbi Meir Kahane’s last speech (excerpts), on the very night he was murdered, urging American Jews to make emergency Aliyah

“…So You Shoot The Messenger”
November 5, 1990 – Cheshvan, 18, 5751

I was born in this country, and I can’t recall ever, in my life, as much open and vicious Jew-hatred as I have seen in our time right now, in this country. I travel around from city to city, and in every city Jews tell me it is unbearable. Attacks upon synagogues, attacks upon Jews, all of which are of course buried. Because the synagogue doesn’t want it to be know. The ADL wants to report “there were 55 incidents this year in the United States”, when actually, there were 55 incidents in one hour in the United States. On radio programs which I am on – the telephone calls – open, open (anti-Semitism).

Two Reasons for Increased Anti-Semitism

What has happened? What has happened in natural terms? Of course, in divine terms, the Almighty is ending it for us. But what is happening in natural terms? Two basic changes have taken place in this country over the last twenty years. It began slowly, now it is reaching its crescendo. We have seen the death of what I call the “Auschwitz syndrome”. What is the “Auschwitz syndrome”? After World War II, it was hard to be an anti-Semite, even for an anti-Semite. It was just difficult. And then the years passed – ten years, twenty years, twenty-five years, thirty years, and a generation arose which was not born at that time. And the “Auschwitz syndrome” began to fade away, and the guilt began to fade away. No matter how many Holocaust programs were shown on television, every year they had less and less impact. Indeed, they reach a point whereby they encourage anti-Semitism, whereupon the anti-Semite says: “ Hey, you know, I know Jews, and the Nazis, and they were probably right.” That’s what happens today. It fades away. And to help things along, there was the rise of a strong Israel. Suddenly, Israel was winning. And that allowed the anti-Semite to cut the albatross. Now it was OK. You see, the Jew are Nazis, and they persecute the Palestinians, and now it was OK. So the “Auschwitz syndrome” faded, and it’s gone for all practical purposes. And you hear people speak about the holocaust that the Israelis are perpetrating upon the Palestinians. A Holocaust…So all the Israelis and all the Jews who ever called me a Nazi and didn’t realize that when you call a Jew a Nazi, you cheapen the Holocaust. And you cheapen the concept of Nazi, which is a very unique thing. And by you calling a second Jew a Nazi, what you are telling the world is” Jews can also be Nazis. Foolish people and tiny dwarfs and pygmies, grasshoppers.

So the “Auschwitz syndrome” is gone. And another thing has happened. After World War II, and until perhaps ten years ago, the American people lived in an economic luxury such as we have not seen ever in world history. No Roman emperor lived as well as the average American did from World War II on, until fairly recently. Life was good. And when life is good, the anti-Semite hates Jews quietly. It’s not a big deal to him. He hates Jews, but he’s too interested in the Monday night football game. I myself am amazed that so many people are here tonight that don’t want to see the Giants massacre the Colts…

The Economic Crises

So when times are good and he has his job, he has his beer and he has his TV set, he has everything – he hates Jews, but it’s not that important to him. But as the economic sands of time begin to run out, and as things get bad and they get worse and suddenly there is a chill, there is a fear. I can sense a fear in this country – people are afraid of what is going to happen, and they have every right to fear it. This is a country which is on the verge of economic horror, horror. In two years they expect the national debt to go from 3.7 trillion to 5 trillion dollars, so they work for months and months – this fiasco between Congress and this administration – and they say, “we are going to cut 500 million dollars in five years”. Five years! It is a joke – It’s a drop in the bucket. This is a country which is dying because the thing that was saving it was the fact that the Japanese are buying Rockefeller Center, Rockefeller Plaza – don’t be angry. If they stopped buying it, no one is going to cover the national debt. And they are stopping.

The dollar is a weak dollar today. Can you imagine: The Israeli shekel has held its own against the dollar now for a year. Don’t clap! It doesn’t mean that the Israeli shekel is strong. The shekel is weak; the dollar is just as weak. The Japanese don’t want dollars anymore, they want German marks. And they’re investing now in South Korea, Thailand, Singapore. The banks here are shaking, they’re tottering. In their greed, in the 1960’s and 70’s, they gave loans to anybody. The Congo came – you want money, take the money. Mexico came – take 100 million dollars – take, take it, take. Suddenly, the Congo couldn’t pay back. If that’s what a banker is…did he expect the Congo to ever pay back in total? So hundreds of millions of bad loans are being held by major banks: Chase Manhattan, Citicorp – and they are in deep, deep trouble today. And on top of that, suddenly the real estate market has collapsed and they are now holding several more hundred million dollars of bad mortgages. That’s the tragedy. That’s why suddenly, there’s a hurry talk bout Chase merging with City.

There’s a myth that your money is insured for $100,000. If the FDIC had 60 cents for every hundred dollars that you have, I’ll swim back to Israel. There is a myth that they are going to bail out the Savings & Loan with 40 billion dollars. If they can make it with less than half a trillion, it will be a miracle.

So for years, the new economists said, “Don’t worry about deficits, it doesn’t matter. Deficits don’t matter? I know that when my bank account is in deficit, it matters to me. The bank calls me up and says, “Rav Kahane, we have a little problem. Would you like to come and cover it?” A city can go a little deeper into debt than I can, and a state deeper yet, and a country can go a little deeper yet; but, in the end you have to pay the piper. So, America has lived beyond its means – extra credit, credit cards – and give anybody credit, give kids credit cards – anybody. Now it’s time to pay the piper, there is no money, there is no money. And should the economic collapse come it is the Jew who will be blamed. It is the Jew. You can hear it already. You can small it in the air.

The Racial Tension – In All Colors

I was on a radio program in Chicago. Every single caller blamed the Gulf oil crisis on the Jews. Every single call. What you have now is the getting together of all these crises – the economic crisis, the racial crisis – and there is a serious racial crisis in the country. It’s a serious one. It is a dangerous one. Whites hate Blacks and Blacks hate Whites and they both hate Jews. It is a terrible, terrible thing. It’s not just Whites and Blacks. Now in the West, it’s the Hispanics and the Anglos – tremendous crises, which only proves all the more the myth of the melting pot. Uh nechtiga tag –what melting pot? A melting pot is fine until there is a terrible crisis and then two “objects’ occupy the same job at the same time. That’s a law of physics, which I’ve changed a bit…

So it’s not an accident that Jesse Helms is now putting on TV ads talking about the unfairness of quotas. Quotas are unfair. Of course, that is his trump card. People are angry about quotas and affirmative action, etc. And Blacks are angry. You think that Blacks have no argument? You think they are all bad? – that everything the Blacks do is wrong? You think that Bob Grant is your kind of guy? G-d forbid! This Jew-hating fascist type. That he says something good many, many times –you’re right. You think that bad people don’t often say correct things? Of course they do – but watch him, watch him and be careful of such people! People who are anti-Black will always be anti-Jewish too. One doesn’t have to love Farrakhan or Jesse Jackson to realize that he should be careful of racism of all kinds – White and Black – be careful, because we get stuck in the middle. Because the Whites and Blacks hate us both.

The Pre-War Depression: Not a Criteria

We have a serious problem – the economic crisis cannot be averted. There is no way. This country is in for terrible, terrible times. People tell me in the depression it was also bad. It’s true. But first of all, who knows what would have happened in this country if World War II had not ended the depression? If you think that Roosevelt ended it, you don’t know history. World War II ended it. It gave jobs finally, but more to the point, it was a different era back then. The American people at that time were a much stronger people in character. Today, after 40-50 years of good life and soft life, and the materialistic life, people are into themselves. Unbelievable ego. Everything is me, me – my life, my body, my-me, my-mine. People are incapable today of making sacrifices and that’s the great, great difference between today and what happened in the depression. The person who is fairly poor and gets poorer – not so terrible. The person who has it and lost it becomes a wild animal, a raging animal. He’ll not accept it and will look for a scapegoat. He’ll look for some target to blame. We Jews are the most visible, the most highly visible in terms of power, in terms of money. Of course, Wasps have more money than Jews have. Certainly, Jews are not into U.S. Steel and banking and so on, and the real, real money is not Jewish money, but that doesn’t matter because Jews are in those professions that are most visible.

How to Gauge Anti-Semitism: Go to a Bar

So in the bars, it sits the jealousy and the envy of the Jews which leads to hate. The tragedy as I’ve said a million times is that the average Jewish leader in this country has no idea what people say about Jews in bars, because the average Jew doesn’t go into a bar – and he should; he should be compelled to go into a bar. Every rabbi before getting “smicha”, before being ordained, should be compelled to go into a bar and find out what the real world is like. It isn’t a joke. I’m serious. To hide in some little ghetto, you never know what the world is. They hate us with a passion out there, with a virulence which is frightening to see and to hear. On every radio program I go on, I hear, “why should we give you guys three billion dollars a year”? Anytime some fellow from the Israeli consulate is asked that question, he comes up with the answer, “well, we help you too, etc.” Baloney! The only way to get rid of that question is to answer as I do, “I don’t want the money! I want Israel to be a free enterprise state and allow private enterprise to flourish and then we don’t want your money, I don’t want your charity.” So, that of course gets rid of the question, but it doesn’t get rid of the anti-Semite. He’ll go home mutter in his beer and pretzels. He’s still there. He’s still there.

Role of the Prophet – To See It and Say It

The rabbis tell us that G-d told Moses and Aaron. “I’ll make you Jewish leaders on one condition that if they throw stones at you, you’ll accept it.” Rather to be pelted with stones and not with dollars. That’s what a Jewish leader has to be! Say the bitter truth, even though they won’t like you. They won’t like you; they’ll attack you, but tell the Jews the truth if you love them. If you love Jews, tell them the things which will make them angry, but which can save their lives. That’s what you have to do! Think carefully about what I’m saying, and that is why we created this group called ZEERO, Zionist Emergency Evacuation Rescue Organization. It’s a name that provokes. And we hope that as we spread this idea it will provoke Jewish leaders to attack so we can debate the controversy that arises. People will say he’s right; he’s wrong, and so on. Of course, this is probably the worst thing you can ever tell any Jewish leader, any Federation leader – that he should leave here, and go to Israel. What’ll I do there? .

The rabbis say: “Who is wise? He who sees the future”. It’s no big deal to see “today.” A Jewish leader has to see tomorrow.

Living in Israel – Difficult; Living Elsewhere – Impossible

It is coming here! It is coming here! Friday night I spoke in Brooklyn in shul, and I had to walk through Bensonhurst, a white neighborhood – nice people, because they’re white…Watching the people, the kids, you can smell the violence, you can see the hate, you can see the envy – frustrated, bored, looking for action. You can see it. Those are the potential mobs. And G-d forbid, we will see it. So ZEERO is a very serious project of Kach, and I mean a serious one. And I know how hard it is to go to Israel – it is really hard. Hard to make a living. My son goes into the army every single year. It’s dangerous and so on. All of it is true. Everything that’s all true. That’s all true. It’s hard to live in Israel, but it will be impossible to live here, and if we go to Israel, at least there we can change the country. Of course we can change it and make it better and make it tremendous and make it safe. Of course we can do that if we have the power in the government, but here there is nothing you can do to change it, it’s out of our hands. We are a minority and we are strangers here. We’re strangers in this land, no matter how many years we’ve been here.

It’s not an accident that so few German Jews survived the camps. The Polish Jew did better. Why? Because the Polish Jew wasn’t surprised. It didn’t shock him that gentiles could behave like this. It didn’t surprise him, so he wasn’t shattered inside, he wasn’t broken. But the German Jew was psychologically shattered. How could this be? I’m a German. I’m a German. How could it be? How can you do this to me? The Pole knew he was a Jew. The German was broken because his whole illusion was shattered. And that’s how the American Jew lives. “I’m an American”. It’s the gentile who will teach you so quickly that you’re a Jew.

It’s not just in the bars, in the working class bars the anti-Semitism that you see. When you see the news media and their attitude towards Israel; it’s not anti-Israelism – it’s anti-Semitism. Do you know why they hate Jews? Because among intellectuals there is a jealousy of Jews. When Truman Capote, the famous author, a sickness, a disease who represents all that is sick about Western culture – when he spoke about the publishing business being a Jewish mafia – you can see the jealousy. [He writes] how Jews are over represented in publishing, in broadcast, in movies, etc. Of course it’s so – they have talent. Untalented people don’t like to think it is because of talent. They like to think they run it because their friends, their uncles, their aunts and so on and so forth. The hate runs across the board. You can see Peter Jennings’ anti-Semitism. You can see it! And when I hold press conferences in Israel and I see them sitting around, you can watch them all – the hatred.

The Jewish Version of the 'Rescue' Parable

13 Menachem Av 5775

You all must be familiar with that famous parable about the man who had faith that God would rescue him from any bad situation. 

One day, a heavy rain began to fall and the streets started to flood. A neighbor called over to him, "We're leaving. Come ride with us in our truck."

"No, thanks," the man replied with confidence. "God will save me."

The water got deeper and rose up towards the door of his house. Another man floated by in a rowboat. "Hop in!" he called to the man.

"No, thanks," he replied once again. "God will save me."

The water continued to rise through the night until the man found himself atop his roof. A helicopter hovered overhead and dropped him a ladder. "Climb up," the pilot shouted over a loudspeaker.

"No, thanks," the man declined. "God will save me," he insisted.

Needless to say, the man drowned and when he stood before the Throne of Glory, he said he only had one question for God: "I had faith you would save me, but you let me down. What happened?" To which God responded, "I sent you a truck, a rowboat and a helicopter. It was your job to get on board!"

Now, here is the Jewish version of that parable...

One day, Jews began to return to their ancient homeland after two thousand years and eventually re-established Jewish sovereignty there, with God's help. Soon, a terrible tide of antisemitism began to rise throughout the world. Rabbi Kahane issued a warning to Jews everywhere to prepare to make aliyah to Israel.

"No, thanks," they replied with confidence. "Mashiach will come for us."

The economy got bad and many people were out of work. Islamic terrorism raised its evil head and struck at the Twin Towers. The tide rose higher and Nefesh b'Nefesh was created. "Let us help you make aliyah as easy as pie."

"No, thanks," the Jews replied yet again. "Mashiach will come for us."

Then the economy began to collapse in stages across the world as nations staggered under heavy loads of debt and stock markets plummeted. The Western world paved the way for Iran to have nuclear weapons while Islamic fanatics were committing atrocities to rival the Nazis of the last century. Jews could not walk the streets of Europe with outward signs of their faith and the man in the White House was busy overseeing the enslavement and imprisonment of the entire population of the United States. 

Then came Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the Rimanover Rebbe, Rav Shalom Arush, Rabbi Lazer Brody, Rabbi Pinhas Winston, Seer Nir Ben Artzi, the autistic children and many others to say in unison: "Jews make aliyah without any further delay!"

"No, thanks," the Jews declined. "Mashiach will come for us," they insisted.

And all disappeared beneath the wave...

28 July 2015

"The Wickedness Is Conquering The World" - Q and A, Pt 1

12 Menachem Av 5775

BS"D


Communication with Binyamin

Jerusalem, 21 Tamuz 5775

The Wickedness Is Conquering The World - Questions and Answers, Pt 1 of 2


Q. How can we develop the desire and longing to merit to see the sacrificial service and the Temple?...

A. The first thing is that the Erev Rav can't do it, so this already reduces a lot of people from the nation. But, also a real Jew, when he is very involved with materialism - it's very hard for him to feel it. And a person who wants to feel the holiness - has to seclude himself. And not the intention to 'seclude himself' - to distance himself from people in general, but to seclude himself within our ghettos, within our homes, to close himself up within our synagogues, within our study halls, and then, only in a sacred atmosphere - is it possible to yearn first of all for the complete redemption, and for holiness, and for every thing that pertains to us, also the sacrifices and the Temple, etc. The feeling for all these things Hashem is showing us only when we rid ourselves of the materialism, from the lie. We need to be more and more connected to the truth, and then the yearning begins. A very strong yearning that brings us slowly-slowly to the truth. And the truth - it's HKB"H. And the moment we begin to feel the connection with Him, then we begin to yearn, to yearn in the most difficult way, to yearn for all the holiness, to yearn for the home that's like a little Beit Hamikdash, to yearn for the Beit Hamikdash and the korbanot, to yearn for modesty, to begin to guard eyes, to begin to live a life of holiness.

Q. Also for the sake of feeling the light of the Shabbat and appointed  times and every thing of Judaism needs holiness...

A. We need to seclude ourselves and reduce the cumbersome food, and the parties and the horrible dresses, and the style of speech. We've lost much with all this materialism. It's impossible to progress, impossible this way to come close to Hashem. And if it's impossible to come close to Hashem - then, there's nothing. A person doesn't have to be the genius of the generation in learning, he needs to be the friend, the true son of HKB"H. To come close, to come close, to come close. And the moment that he comes close and becomes spiritually elevated, indeed he needs to learn, he has to learn, but the main thing - it's to come close to HKB"H. And so, to receive the Torah in truth, and to strive very, very much, especially in holiness, and whoever doesn't have holiness - can't come close at all to HKB"H.

Q. The Rishonim brought that the mitzvah of 'tzipiah liyeshuah' [expecting the redemption] is included in the first commandment: "I am Hashem your G-d Who took you from the land of Egypt", so one can say that like Hashem is infinite, and faith has no end - also the redemption is a thing without end...

A. Correct, because it's one thing that goes into another. And we are continuing and continuing, and we will have many more changes after the complete redemption, and we will stand in it in joy, it will be something good, it will be something that attracts, that yearns for it, that we will want it so, with all our essence, it will be such a pleasure that it's impossible to be described. And this pleasure - it will continue forever.

Q. The righteous of all generations like the 'Yismach Moshe' ztz"l, and many more tzadikim, waited for Mashiach years-upon-years without tiring, without losing hope for even a moment... How did they do it?!...

A. Without a doubt, because it becomes deeper, more interesting, wider, deeper, higher and more-more-and-more because there's no end to that which the Torah can teach us. It's possible to learn it a hundred years, or two hundred or a million years, and each time will be revealed another thing and another thing. But we need people like the Chofetz Chaim, like all the great and righteous of the generations who can reveal it to us. But, when Mashiach will arrive, we ourselves will be able to reveal these things, with G-d's help. There will be those who will be more able and those less, but everyone will be able to do it, with G-d's help.

Q. This year the fasts of the Seventeenth of Tamuz and also the Ninth of Av take place on Shabbat and they're 'postponed', what is the significance for us?

A. The significance of this is that in any case Hashem will have mercy on Am Yisrael and that no Jewish neshamah will be lost. That it's 'postponed' - it gives us relief (from a halachic aspect) and it also says that Hashem will have mercy on us, and the complete redemption will be with much mercy for the true-Jews. Hashem is not looking for every single sin of the Jews. He will only want to know a few things, that the Jew trusts in Hashem, one hundred percent, and that he believes and loves Hashem one hundred percent, and that he wants to be good, that he wants to be close to Hashem, that he wants the connection, that he wants to be a real-Jew and to leave the World-of-the-Lie.

Q. When He will destroy two-thirds of the world, what will become of all the Jews who are located there?

A. That I can't say precisely, but it will be very hard. There will be big warnings now, shortly there will be big warnings. We need to pray that the Jews will understand that the time has arrived to get up. Even though there is the rule-of-the-evildoers there, but in any case there doesn't remain much time, and it is the time this moment to come here [to Israel].

Q. It's a big trial for them to leave everything and to come here...

A. Hashem is already taking care of it. There will be a situation that they will receive the hardest warnings in order that they will begin to move. A week ago, within one week there were four incidents of attacks on Jews, in Brooklyn! It's not the usual thing in recent years.

[To be continued, iy"H]

The Strange, The Apocalyptic and The Just Plain Scary

12 Menachem Av 5775

How to watch tomorrow's meteor shower created by a bizarre comet that's unlike anything else in our solar system

Apocalyptic scenes in Moscow as thunderstorm unleashes freak lightning on city

Now Is The Time – Fear Rises As Financial Markets All Over The Planet Start To Crash

Kerry Warns: Jews Will Be Blamed If Congress Sinks Iran Deal

27 July 2015

Binyamin: "The Wickedness Is Conquering The World"

12 Menachem Av 5775

BS"D


Communication with Binyamin

Jerusalem, 21 Tamuz 5775

The Wickedness Is Conquering The World


I want to say that the world is really approaching the direction of the geulah shleimah at the quickest speed. The evildoers are full, and are filling the world with their wickedness. Wherever we look we see really the opposite of good, we see very scary things. 


When we learn about the Generation of the Flood, or about Sodom and Amorrah, etc., about the evil Greeks, about the evil Romans, about Nebuchadnezzar and all the terrible things that they did and etc., we're saying to ourselves: 'How is it possible to be so cruel?!' But, now, we have everything! Nebuchadnezzar, the Greeks, the Romans, Sodom and etc., and it's simply hard to tolerate, it's so bad, so opposite of the Torah, so cruel, that it's hard-hard to imagine what can be with these evildoers really ruling over the world. And they're already certain that they're ruling over the world, because it appears from all directions that they're succeeding, G-d help us, but I believe that Hashem will destroy them before they will succeed to bring all this evil to a height, a width and a depth that they wish to bring. 

But, I also know that they are in every corner of the world. They control the United States, they control Europe, they control Italy and also the Vatican - which is 'the head', they control every place, in China, in Russia, in Australia and all of Africa, in South America and in Canada, and etc., in every place in the world they're ruling. And it's very scary. And in order that Hashem will be rid of them completely, He will destroy two-thirds of the world. Two-thirds of the world! Can you digest this?! Two-thirds of the world!!! It will be a very hard operation to erase all the evil that's filling the world since the first sin that the snake set in motion.

Woe to us! Woe to us what we need to go through. Hard to believe, hard to believe there can be such a thing, but it's a fact, a clear fact, that we are seeing every day more and more the depth of their wickedness, of their twisted mind, how they make, so to speak, chas v'shalom, the 'Almighty' out of the Satan himself, chas v'shalom, the snake who himself was created at the hands of HKB"H, and they've made him even bigger, shelo neida. Woe to us, woe to us.

And this fool, the snake, still believes what they're doing!... He believes he's the Almighty, chas v'shalom, with all the billions of people who already believe in him, so he's sure it's correct... So, Hashem will annihilate all of them, all of them, and there won't remain of them a memory. But, just imagine how it will look, what He needs to do in order to destroy two-thirds-of-the-world, just imagine it...! But, what will remain - it will be pure, pure. And that's the main thing. And it will be the base, and on this Hashem will begin again to build anew, but this time without sin, without wickedness, only with the Torah, everything according to the Torah, everything according to the holy Torah, everything according to holiness.


We're waiting, it should arrive already. There's not much more to say. I just want to warn you: this wickedness does not come without a price, and they - the next generation of Nazis, because the Nazis were also very involved with this wickedness, these people - they're the same people, and many of them, they themselves are the same people really!

But, there's also another thing. We need to go through the antisemitism again. It's only begun - the antisemitism, and it's going to become much greater. What do you think? That they want the Jews?!... They want to make their new religion, and it's designed, of course, for those Jews who are ready to abandon the religion, as usual, according to how it was in all of history. And we're beginning to see still more antisemitism, especially in the Diaspora, and this antisemitism perhaps will encourage Jews to give themselves up and arrive in Israel before it becomes much worse.

But, antisemitism - we will see. And even here in Israel there will be enough antisemitism,and there's enough, because much of our leadership are part of the evildoers. And they are ready for anything. They hate their Judaism. They hate HKB"H, G-d help us, and them - they have no problem doing terrible things to the real Jews. And we'll need to be strong - and not be afraid. And if we will not be afraid and we will stand steadfast, and close to HKB"H, Hashem will protect us and will save us. He doesn't want in the last moments to lose any Jewish neshamah, any true Jewish neshamah.

Now, we need to understand our situation. It's hard to think about it, there's time until it arrives, indeed not so much time, but in any case there is time, but we're already seeing that it exists. And it will be very scary, but don't be afraid, don't be afraid! Just be with HKB"H. And if you still feel afraid, then close your eyes and ears, and just think about HKB"H. When a person sits in a movie, then he's sure that what he's seeing is real, in thought he indeed knows that it's not real, but nevertheless he cries together with the actors, and is afraid together with the actors. But, in a place like this that we see a movie and we want to forget from it - then simply seal up the eyes and ears. And it's good in a movie.

But, there are people who don't want to know what's happening, so they close their eyes and ears so to speak and still don't want to know, so everything appears to them "good". Only when the knife will be on their neck - then they will understand that it's not good. But, good Jews who know, only that they have a bit of fear, it's possible to close the eyes and ears and simply concentrate on HKB"H, because it brings us to another place, it elevates us so that no one can bother us or kill us or do anything bad to us. And that's all I have to say. Questions?

(Q and A to follow, iy"H)

"Two-Thirds of the World Will be Destroyed"

11 Menachem Av 5775

Considering what the Hebrew prophets reveal to us about earth changes at the End of Days (see Tanakh on Earth Changes), I think one possible cause of the prophesied destruction of two-thirds of the world could be a cataclysmic pole shift which could cause crustal displacement and a reversal of the earth's rotation after a close encounter with Planet X aka Nibiru. 

Many lands will sink beneath the oceans while new land will emerge from the sea - pure and clean. The safest place to be will be Jerusalem which, as the place from which the whole earth was formed, will remain stationery: (Zekhariah 14.10-11) "The whole earth shall be changed to be like a plain, ...but it [Jerusalem] will be elevated high and remain in its old place.... and there shall be no more destruction; but Jerusalem shall dwell in safety." The closer one is to Jerusalem, the less the devastating effects will be felt.

(First 50 mins covers the whole topic)



(One view of what could happen during an Earth encounter with Nibiru.)



Can It Happen Again?

11 Menachem Av 5775

I'm truly shocked that anyone could seriously believe that Iran presents any kind of danger to the Jews of Eretz Yisrael. It's just a threat - like the father who raises his hand to his child as if to smack him, but without any real intent to carry it out. It's a device for communicating to the child the seriousness with which his father views his transgression. It is meant to shock the child into submission and bring about an immediate cessation of the transgression.

True, we're all standing in the looming shadows of the Valley of Death and none of us knows for sure if he will survive the crossing to the other side where the light of redemption shines. But, that light has its source in Eretz Yisrael. There will never be another exile!

On the other hand, many of those who are most afraid of this illusory threat from Iran are firmly (and they think safely) ensconced in the crumbling, teetering Diaspora of Edom whose leaders are the very ones who have enabled Iran to become a threat to Israel!

Diaspora Jews! Your vision is skewed. You perceive a threat to Eretz Yisrael, but you fail to see the one that is much closer to home.

The Rounding up of American Jews
Just as 15 centuries of Jewish life in Spain ended with a royal edict in 1492, American Jewish life in the USA as we know it can easily end with a presidential directive …

Can anyone imagine the fall-out if there was a false-flag attack on US soil which was at first attributed to Iran and then was 'confirmed' to be perpetrated by Israel in a way that Iran would be blamed? In actuality, it would be neither Iran nor Israel, but The Powers That Be who are masterful liars and deceivers. Is it really so unthinkable? Do you know how many people actually believe that Israel was somehow responsible for the 9/11 attacks?

26 July 2015

A Tisha b'Av Memory

10 Menachem Av 5775
Tisha b'Av Observed

(Excerpted from the book Bat Avraham - Following in My Father's Footsteps)



9 Av 5759

Trepidation filled my heart as I gazed around what is known today as the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. My family and I were trying hard not to breathe too deeply of the aromatic smells emanating from the garbage close to where we were sitting on the cold stone floor inside the Gate called Shalshelet. In this forlorn and forbidding place about forty devout Jews had gathered to read Eichah, the Book of Lamentations, in an environment conducive to mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple.


The Ninth of Av is the Hebrew date on which both Jewish Temples were destroyed. Thereafter, for millennia, the Jews have fasted and prayed on that date, mourning the loss. The timeless rituals include reading a description of the first destruction as penned by the prophet Jeremiah.


Israeli Border Police stood guard while Arabs from the surrounding area gathered. A radio was turned on at full volume somewhere overhead and those in the women's area could no longer hear the words being chanted from the scroll. To the religious Jew, the loss of Jewish sovereignty over Judaism's holiest site - the Temple Mount - was a devastating event. In this place and particularly at this time the loss was palpable.


Suddenly, as a fury of mixed voices began to rise, the deafening clang of metal rang out and echoed off the walls and we scrambled to our feet, gathering up the children. Sounds of anger mingled with that of scuffling feet. I could just see the policemen with clubs drawn threateningly over their heads. It was impossible to tell if their anger was directed at the Jews or Arabs or both. In the Old City of Jerusalem, the police consider any religiously motivated group to be extremists and troublemakers.


We were being pressed tighter and tighter together when an opening appeared in the fenced off area. We began to be herded in that direction. I felt an ominous chill as from distantly remembered herdings of Jews. The authorities said we needed to be evacuated to a place of safety for our own protection, so we flowed as one in the only direction we could move - into the Mahkame Headquarters of the Border Police.


I watched the great iron doors shut with a deep resonant finality. When the bolt slid into place it didn't lock out the din of the mob shouting "Itbah al Yahud! Slaughter the Jews" just outside. At first people wandered aimlessly in the large hall, lost in a depth of feeling none of us could have anticipated. The goal of attaining a true sense of loss in our mourning rites had been achieved beyond expectation. As a small group gathered to complete the reading of Eichah, others stood aside to pray and some, like me, took themselves into small corners to try to come to terms with what had happened.


Curiosity led me to one of the tall barred windows which stood on a far wall. Until this moment, I had not really understood exactly where we were, so imagine my astonishment to find myself looking down into the Western Wall Plaza. The window was very high up on the northern wall of the prayer area. As I stood gazing into the sea of Jewish humanity that swelled below, contemplation seized me and carried me back thirty years into the past where I recalled my first encounter with the Master of the Universe....

23 July 2015

Parshat Devarim - Shabbat Chazon 5775

8 Av 5775
Erev Shabbat Kodesh

Parashat Devarim and the 9th of Av: Looking forward with hope

by Daniel Pinner

Ever since the yearly cycle of Torah readings was standardised towards the end of the Second Temple era, and the fixed calendar as calculated by Hillel II (Hillel ben Yehudah, Nasi or head of the Sanhedrin) was adopted in 4119 (359 C.E.), Parashat D’varim is invariably the last Shabbat of the Nine Days of mourning for our lost Land and destroyed Holy Temple.


That is to say, we invariably begin to read the final Book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, on the Shabbat which immediately precedes the fast of the ninth of Av.


This year 5775, the connexion is closer yet: as happens on average about one year in four, this Shabbat is the 9th of Av itself (which is why the fast is postponed by a day to Sunday the 10th of Av).


That is to say, this year we begin to read the Book of Deuteronomy on the 9th of Av, the day that commemorates the worst disasters that ever befell our nation.


Each of the Five Books of the Torah has its special characteristic. “Rabbi Simon said: Five times the Torah uses the word ‘light’ [in the Creation narrative], corresponding to the five Books of the Torah. ‘God said, Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3), corresponding to Genesis, in which God was involved in creating His world. ‘And there was light’ (ibid.), corresponding to Exodus, in which Israel went out from darkness to light. ‘And God saw the light that it was good’ (v. 4), corresponding to Leviticus, the whole of which is full of many halachot. ‘And God separated between the light and the darkness’ (ibid.), corresponding to Numbers, which separates between those who left Egypt and those who came to the Land. ‘And God called the light day’ (v. 5), corresponding to Deuteronomy, which is full of many halachot” (Bereishit Rabbah 3:5).


However, as the Midrash continues, Rabbi Simon’s colleagues challenged this: “Isn’t the Book of Leviticus also full of many halachot?”


To which Rabbi Simon responded: “Here, too, something has been repeated” (ibid.).


The Matanot Kehunah (commentary to Midrash Rabbah composed by Rabbi Yissachar Ber ha-Kohen Katz, Poland, 16th century) explains that the terms “light” and “day” have the same meaning, so calling the light “God called the light day” constitutes a repetition; thus it corresponds to the Book of Deuteronomy, in which so many previously-stated halachot are repeated.


I suggest an alternative understanding. The Hebrew phrase in the Midrash,אף הוא שנה בו דבר, which we translated as “Here, too, something has been repeated”, could also mean “Nevertheless, something here is different”. Rabbi Simon does not explain what it is that is different; he simply leaves it as an unexplained assertion.


I suggest that what is different about the Book of Deuteronomy is that it is “Torat Eretz Yisrael”, the Torah of the Land of Israel.


The Midrash tells us that “there is no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Yisrael” (Vayikra Rabbah 13:5; Yalkut Shimoni, Bereishit 22), which demands a definition of the concept of “Torat Eretz Yisrael”.


Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook z”l (Latvia, England, and Israel, 1865-1935) and his son Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook (Russian Empire and Israel, 1891-1982) were the greatest exponents of Torat Eretz Yisrael, and following their teachings, we can define “Torat Eretz Yisrael” as understanding the Torah as the national charter of the Nation of Israel living on the Land of Israel, rather than as merely a religion of individuals living under foreign governments.


The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, Spain and Israel, 1195-c.1270), in his Introduction to the Book of Deuteronomy, says: “The subject of this Book is known to be a restatement of the Torah… In the plains of Moab nothing new was given, with the sole exception of the words of the Covenant [Deuteronomy 28:69], as is stated explicitly… These mitzvot had not been recorded in the earlier Books, when He had spoken with those who had left Egypt – maybe because these mitzvot [which were given earlier but recorded in Deuteronomy] apply solely in the Land of Israel”.


And so every year, we enter the week of most intensive mourning for our lost and plundered Land by beginning the reading of the Book which will lead us into our Land.


This perfectly encapsulates the dichotomy of the ninth of Av. It is simultaneously the day of greatest tragedy – and the day which is fore-ordained for redemption.


The Midrash recounts a most peculiar event that occurred on the day the Holy Temple was destroyed: “It happened that a certain man was ploughing, and one of his oxen lowed. An Arab was passing and said to him, What are you? He replied, I am a Jew. [The Arab] said to him: Unharness your ox and untie your plough [as a sign of mourning]. [The Jew] said to him: Why? [The Arab] said to him: Because the Holy Temple of the Jews has been destroyed! He asked him: How do you know? [The Arab] said: I know it from the lowing of your ox. While he was still talking to him, the ox lowed again, and [the Arab] said to [the Jew]: Harness your ox, tie up your plough, because the Jews’ redeemer has been born” (Eichah Rabbah 1:51).


That is to say, in the words of Midrash Abba Gurion, “From the day that the Holy Temple was destroyed, the Mashiach was born”.


This, indeed, has the status of practical halachah: the Chatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Schreiber, Germany, Moravia, and Slovakia, 1762-1839) wrote in a halachic responsum: “From the day the Holy Temple was destroyed, immediately one who according to his righteousness could have been the redeemer was born. When the right time comes, God will reveal him and will send him, and then the spirit of the Mashiach, which is concealed and stored away on high until he comes, will be aroused within him” (Halachic Responsa of the Chatam Sofer, Part 6, Section 98, s.v. hareini nazir).


The origins of this dual nature of the 9th of Av go right back to the first disaster that happened on that day – the day 3,326 years ago that God decreed upon our ancestors in the Sinai Desert that they would not enter the Land of Israel (Numbers 13-14).


Though the Torah does not explicitly state the date that this happened, the Talmud (Ta’anit 29a) calculates the Torah’s chronology: on the 20th of Iyar we left Mount Sinai (Numbers 10:11); this was followed by a three-day journey (v.33) concluding on the 23rd of Iyar; a 30-day sojourn in Kibroth-Hata’avah (ibid. 11:20, 34) concluding on the 22nd of Sivan; and finally seven days in Hazeroth (11:35, 12:15-16) before reaching the Paran Desert (ibid. 12:16) on the 29th of Sivan.


Hence, Moshe sent out the twelve spies on the 29th of Sivan (compare Targum Yonatan to Numbers 13:20) on their 40-day mission.


The plan was for them to return forty days later on the 8th of Av and deliver their report of how to conquer the Land, and the next day, the 9th of Av, we would enter the Land and take possession of it.


The 9th of Av would then have been our national Independence Day, a day of celebration and laughter.


But instead, when the spies returned on the 8th of Av they delivered their evil report of the Land; and when night fell and the nation cried, it was the evening of the 9th of Av. Instead of the 9th of Av being the day of the redemption, it became a day of tragedy.


But its potential as the day of redemption is innate, and so remains even despite our sins which delay its potential from being actualised.


Let us return to Rabbi Simon’s midrashic exposition, according to which “…God called the light day” corresponds to Deuteronomy.


It is standard Talmudic and Midrashic imagery that “night” represents exile and “day” represents redemption. It is no idle happenstance that when the spies delivered their evil report slandering the Land of Israel, “the nation wept on that night” (Numbers 14:1) – at night, preparing the way into hundreds of generations of exile.


And following the same imagery, “…God called the light day” corresponds to Deuteronomy precisely because “day” represents redemption, return to the Land of Israel, the extirpation of the sin of the spies and of their generation. The Book of Deuteronomy is the Book of redemption, the Book that leads us into the Land of Israel, the Book that leads us out of the night of exile into the day of redemption.


It is singularly appropriate that on the Shabbat that seals this most tragic of weeks, we begin by looking forward to the redemption that the 9th of Av inherently contains.


The Haftarah (the reading from the Prophets) conveys the same message of consolation. The Haftarah usually echoes or reflects or continues one of the major themes of the week’s Torah-reading; but for the final ten Shabbatot of the year, this changes.


Starting with the first Shabbat of the Three Weeks (usually, as this year, Parashat Pinchas, sometimes Parashat Mattot) and until the final Shabbat of the year, Parashat Nitzavim (or Nitzvim-Vayeilech), the theme of the Haftarot is castigation and comfort.


The three Haftarot of the Three Weeks (of which this is the third and last) are the three Haftarot of Castigation, the prophetic warnings from Jeremiah and Isaiah of the punishments that God will inflict if the Jewish nation rebels against His decrees. The first two are from Jeremiah (1:1-2:3 and 2:4-28), the third, this week, from Isaiah (1:1-27).


And the next seven are the Haftarot of Consolation, prophecies of the wonderful and beautiful future that awaits us in the time when we will return to our Land.


All seven of the Haftarot of Consolation are taken from Isaiah, as though our Sages who instituted these Haftarot wanted to infuse the idea yet again that the 9th of Av is the pivot between disaster and redemption. Yes, the Haftarah for the Shabbat of the Nine Days is depressing and gloomy; yes, it castigates the nation of Israel for their backsliding; yes, it depicts a desolate Israel and destroyed cities and a plundered Jerusalem.


It is the climax of the Three Weeks of mourning.


Yet it is also the beginning of the readings from Isaiah – the same prophet whose Book will comfort and encourage us for the next seven weeks, until the year ends and we will start out anew, cleansed by Rosh Hashanah.

Shabbat Tisha b'Av

7 Av 5775

When Tisha B’Av Falls on Shabbos

17 July 2015

Picking Up Speed Now

1 Av 5775
Rosh Chodesh
Erev Shabbat Kodesh

We should have expected it. It's Rosh Chodesh Av after all and if things are going to wind up in the next two and a half months...

Someone even used the word "blitzkreig" to describe the lightning-fast speed with which the UN scheduled a vote to take place on Monday, approving the Iran nuclear deal signed this week. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is accusing Obama of using this vote as a way of circumventing Congressional oversight.
Sen. Ted Cruz accuses the White House of trying to skirt around a congressional review of the newly inked Iran nuclear pact — and threatens to cut off State Department funding and block nominees unless lawmakers get a first look before a final United Nations vote.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, the Texas Republican charges the White House has found a way to "circumvent" congressional review by going straight to the United Nations, where a vote could lift sanctions before Congress completes its oversight.
According to The Times Of Israel...
...The resolution should pass with little difficulty, diplomats said Thursday, since the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — were among those countries that negotiated the accord.
The resolution was circulated to all council members Wednesday by the United States.

...Monday’s vote will come despite calls from some US lawmakers to delay Security Council approval until Congress reviews the deal.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, on Thursday wrote a letter to President Barack Obama saying, “We urge you to postpone the vote at the United Nations until after Congress considers this agreement.”
But the chief US negotiator in the Iran talks, Wendy Sherman, rejected that idea Thursday.
Those who were still holding out some hope that Congress would yet save us will have to realize "ayn od milevado".

Once the entire world has endorsed this agreement through its proxy body - the UN - Israel will no longer have any say in the matter whatsoever. And if the Israeli government continues to complain after this time, it will just find itself even more and more isolated.

Of course, this is good news. :-)

“...Do not fear for everything that I have done is for your benefit, to destroy the evil kingdom of Edom and eradicate evil from this world so that the Messiah can come, your time of redemption is now.” (Source)