20 Sivan 5781
30 May 2021
28 May 2021
"THE TRIUMPH OF THE ARK"
17 Sivan 5781
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Beha'alotcha
Rav Kook Torah
(h/t YA)
~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~
27 May 2021
The Path to Peace
16 Sivan 5781
When we make peace with our Father in Heaven then we will have peace in the world.
~ ~ ~
“If you follow My statutes... I will bring peace in the Land... and if you do not listen to Me... I will bring upon you disaster” (Lev. 26:14, 16)
The Torah is Israel's strength. When they guard it, G-d strengthens them to overcome the nations, and only through that strength do the nations recognize Israel's might and submit to them peacefully. Now,... dear friend, heed a great principle for our age, when the Messiah's footsteps are so near. Place it over your eyes and heart – perhaps G-d will have mercy. The period in which Gog goes forth to war against Israel will be a terrible time of fear and dread on earth. If Israel are unworthy of redemption “in haste”, redemption devoid of terrible Messianic birthpangs, G-d in His great mercy, will try to delay, so as to avoid bringing the world redemption “ in its time”. Like a merciful father, G-d extends His deadline again and again in hopes of His children repenting and returning to Him, so that He, in turn, can return to them instantaneously, in glory and majesty.
Ponder my words well. Perhaps they will influence your emotions and understanding, dear reader, to hurry and cry out to our people, to tell them how to save themselves from awful, avoidable suffering. G-d said, “Oh that my people would hearken to Me and Israel walk in My ways – I would soon subdue their enemies” (Ps. 81:14-15). I have already explained that if Israel would only listen to G-d, He would bring redemption literally in a moment, for He is ready to take revenge on Gog and the nations instantaneously. G-d also said, “Oh that you had hearkened to My mitzvot! Your peace would then be like a river” (Isaiah 48:18) Avodah Zarah 5a teaches, “If only [hebr. 'im'] you would follow My statutes (Lev. 26:3): 'Im' can only connote supplication. It thus says, “Oh that My people would hearken to Me” and, “Oh that you had hearkened to My mitzvot!” G-d entreats Israel, so to speak, to repent and do acts of self-sacrifice, for only this will prove their faith and trust in G-d – and through such acts G-d will hasten redemption.Our sages said (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai, Parsheta 1): “If only you would follow My statutes”: This teaches that G-d yearns for Israel to toil in Torah. It likewise says, “Oh that My people would hearken to Me”; “Oh that you had hearkened to My mitzvot!” and, “If only their hearts would remain this way, in awe of Me... for all time, so that it would go well with them and their children forever” (Deut. 5:26).
These verses surely refer to mitzvah observance, yet to bring redemption much more is required. The source continues: 'If only you would follow My statutes”: Might this refer to mitzvah observance? When the verse adds, “And be careful to keep My mitzvot” (Lev. 26:3), that connotes mitzvah observance. What then am I to learn from the first part of the verse? That we must toil in Torah.We learn a major principle here. G-d does not suffice with mere mitzvah observance. Rather, He demands toil, hard labor, even psychological grief. He demands that we keep the difficult mitzvot which require faith and trust in G-d. Generally, these are the chukim, the statutes, which are hard to fathom and which oppose the will of man, who is ensnared by his weak, limited intellect. G-d says, “If you would only follow My statutes.” If we follow the ways of the Torah, even regarding the difficult chukim; if we do not just study them mechanically but engage in difficult, discouraging toil, in faith and trust in G-d, which is what G-d yearns for, then He will bring redemption instantaneously.
G-d fiercely longs to sanctify His name, profaned daily by the nations, but He demands that Israel sanctify His name first through complete and perfect faith and trust in G-d. They must take hold of dangerous, frightening mitzvot which leave them isolated and alone, with the nations opposing them, for only this can prove their real trust in Him. Then, when they have sanctified His name in this way, He will go forth in His wrathful revenge against the nations who profane His name, and will thereby save both Israel and Himself, so to speak.
Thus, complete and perfect deeds of trust in G-d sanctify His name, blot out the terrible chilul Hashem inherently associated with fear of the nations, and pave the way for majestic redemption “in haste”. What, then, are these deeds? I shall enumerate them, dear friend, and you should engrave them on your hearts and proclaim them loudly in the streets to the Jewish People, before G-d's great and awesome punishment visits us, Heaven forbid!
1. Those Jews who dwell in the impure exile, thereby scorning the Pleasant Land and its holiness, profane G-d's name by their very habitation under the yoke and sovereignty of the nations. Through their dependency on the nations, they transform them and their false religion to masters over Israel, to whom Israel must lift their eyes. G-d will not bear this chilul Hashem. He will not tolerate the assimilation and the influence of the alien culture on Israel. These destroy their souls and introduce foreign thoughts into the Jewish People and their Torah.This conquest of Jewish bodies and souls is a chilul Hashem, and also prevents the Jewish People from being a chosen, special people who dwell alone in their holy, special land. G-d, therefore, decreed that Israel had to leave Egypt and go up to Eretz Yisrael, and that otherwise, it would be their burial place.The first exile is an omen for the last. G-d will not give in regarding Israel's scorning the Land. When it comes time for G-d to punish the nations for their sins, raining down upon them His wrath, He will “turn their hearts to hate His people, to scheme against His servants” (Ps. 105:25). All this will be in addition to the tragedy He will unleash upon all Jews who live among the nations, when He takes revenge on the nations for all their sins through the collapse of lands and peoples. G-d's liquidating the exile through Israel's leaving it and going up to Eretz Yisrael is a major part of His removing the chilul Hashem and sanctifying His name.
2. The impoverished regime, whose conception and birth occurred in the alien culture of the nations, and who denies the Torah of Moses, has refused to apply the authority and sovereignty of the people and G-d of Israel upon all parts of Eretz Yisrael for fear of the nations. This constitutes a chilul Hashem, a rebellion against and degradation of the holiness of Eretz Yisrael, large parts of which have remained under the control of the nations. A condition for complete redemption through Kiddush Hashem is control and sovereignty of the G-d and of the people of Israel over all portions of Eretz Yisrael in our hands.
3. For many hundreds of years, Jews lifted their eyes to the Holy Temple, about which was decreed, “Any alien who comes near shall die” (Num. 18:7). Here was the Holy of Holies where only the Kohen Gadol could enter once a year. The presence at this site of impure Ishmaelite heathens who wholeheartedly hate the Jewish People is blasphemy. The impoverished regime is handing over to the impure Ishmaelites ownership and authority over the Temple Mount and simultaneously preventing G-d's people, Israel, from ascending to the permissible places. Let all ears be spared hearing about this! For this shall Zion sit in sackcloth, in somber mourning. Could any chilul Hashem be more severe, more degrading? What can one say, knowing that the cause of all this is the heretics' fear of the nations and absolute lack of trust in G-d? Israel are turning the Divine blessing and kindness associated with the beginning of redemption, which are a Kiddush Hashem, into an unprecedented nightmare, a sordid, abominable chilul Hashem. G-d's wrath looms over us, and woe to the insult to our holy mountain! We bear a holy duty to remove the cursed Ishmaelites from the site of our Temple and to remove the disgrace of their mosques which daily anger G-d, if we hope to save our souls from the day of wrath.
4. The call of the hour is to “drive out all the Land's inhabitants” (Num. 33:52). Woe to us for having dealt treacherously with the Land and it's owner, G-d! Through our fear of the nations, we have refused to conquer the Land by banishing the enemies and revilers of Israel, the lowly Ishmaelites. How much innocent blood has been spilled in the Holy Land through murderers being allowed to remain in it!
G-d is imploring us, His beloved, chosen sons, to agree to accept what He desires to give us. The Messiah is knocking at our door, his footsteps can be heard in the streets, and the voice of the G-d of Israel calls: “Return to Me – the word of the L-rd of hosts – and I will return to you” (Zechariah 1:3). Hasten! Hurry! In glory! Today! At this very moment! “Today, if you hearken to His voice!” (Ps. 95:7). Yet if, G-d forbid, we miss our chance, and the moment arrives from which there is no turning back; if, Heaven forbid, G-d brings the last stage of redemption “in its time”, with Messianic birthpangs and tragedies the likes of which we have never known, then it will come, suddenly, out of the blue.
This is the choice, the only choice. All the rest is worthless and of no avail. Time is running out. The decision is in our hands.
-
Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner from 'The Jewish Idea' of Rav Meir Kahane, HY"D
26 May 2021
It's Not Over Til It's Over
15 Sivan 5781
Debkafile reported on May 21, 2021 that the operation in Gaza is "over but not finished." It's not "over" at all. We've just moved on to the next phase. So many people in so many places have remarked that this time is "different" from the previous ones. They are right. This time, it is not going to stop until it is well and surely "over."
TPTB instigated this round (just like all the others) to soften us up for their final solution. And HKB"H let them do it to awaken the Jews to the true threat our enemies pose to us. His miraculous intervention on our behalf has masked the true severity and the true evil of the world's hatred for us. But, in this phase of the redemptive process, while the light is growing ever brighter, all of the darkness is being revealed by that light and can no longer remain hidden. That's why we are seeing reports like these...
Arab-Israeli uprising: ‘This time it’s different’
This next phase is meant to build on the shock of the unexpected and unprecedented violence to completely delegitimize Israel as a Jewish State, along with anyone who still holds to this ideal. To see where it is all leading, you just have to keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to rid their New World of Jews once and for all - by whatever means is necessary and effective. The predictable Arab reactions are just another tool in their arsenal. As I've said before, TPTB (Eisav) turns Yishmael on and then shuts them down again, all in accordance with their overall plan.
But, "this time it's different." This time it will all go very wrong for TPTB. That's a promise.
...Speaking for the first time since the cease-fire ending the 11-day war between Hamas and Israel, Hassan Nasrallah said Gazan groups had proven that no one can sit idle when Israel attacks the holy sites or tries to undermine the Palestinians’ right to the city and warned his group could get involved next time around.“The Israelis must understand that breaching the holy city and al-Aqsa mosque and sanctuaries won’t stop at Gaza resistance,” Nasrallah said, referring to the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s Old City.“Jerusalem means a regional war. All the resistance movements cannot stand by and watch this happening if the holy city is in real, grave danger,” he added.
The prophets already told us that the whole thing would come down to Jerusalem.
The prophecy of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Says the Lord, Who stretches out the heavens and founds the earth and forms the spirit of man within him:
Behold! I am making Jerusalem a cup of weakness for all the peoples around, and also on Judah, [that he] shall be in the siege against Jerusalem.
And it shall come to pass on that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all peoples; all who bear it shall be gashed, and all the nations of the earth shall gather about it. (Zechariah 12.1-3)
WE ARE THERE. The "cease-fire" has not stopped the ongoing clashes on the Temple Mount and that is where it truly counts.
...The ceasefire does not mean that the “battle for Jerusalem” has ended, PA and Hamas leaders said over the past few days.
Just keep in mind. This is not over until its good and over.
~ ~ ~
Rabbi Alon Anava is back!
Stop stepping on each other! The divine message from the disaster in Meron.
25 May 2021
"Super 'Blood' Moon 2021"
14 Sivan 5781
The first total lunar eclipse in more than two years coincides with a supermoon this week for quite a cosmic show.This super “blood” moon will be visible on Wednesday across the Pacific – offering the best viewing – as well as the western half of North America, the bottom of South America and eastern Asia.Better look quick: the total eclipse will last about 15 minutes as Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun. But the entire show will last five hours, as Earth’s shadow gradually covers the moon, then starts to ebb. The reddish-orange color is the result of all the sunrises and sunsets in Earth’s atmosphere projected on to the surface of the eclipsed moon.“Hawaii has the best seat in the house and then short of that will be California and the Pacific north-west,” said Nasa’s Noah Petro, the project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. New Zealand and Australia also will have prime viewing.Circling the moon for 12 years, the orbiter will measure temperature changes on the lunar surface during the eclipse. Telescopes atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea will also monitor the moon, Petro said.The moon will be setting and the sun rising along the US east coast, leaving skygazers – Petro in Virginia included – pretty much out of luck. Europe, Africa and western Asia will miss everything. Live streams will be available.Everyone everywhere, though, can still soak in the brighter than usual moon, weather permitting.The moon will be more than 220,000 miles (357,460km) away at its fullest. It’s this proximity, combined with a full moon, that qualifies it as a supermoon, making it appear slightly bigger and more brilliant in the sky.Last month’s supermoon, by contrast, was 96 miles (155km) more distant. Unlike a solar eclipse, there is no harm in looking at an eclipsed moon.More lunar shows are on the horizon.“For people who might feel like we’re missing out, set your calendars for 19 November of this year,” Petro said. This will be a nearly total eclipse where the moon dims but doesn’t turn red.The next total lunar eclipse will be May 2022. The last one was January 2019.
24 May 2021
"NEVER HAS A VACCINE INJURED SO MANY"
13 Sivan 5781
Keep in mind that they are ready to begin administering it to children any day now.
21 May 2021
20 May 2021
No Doubt in My MInd
9 Sivan 5781
(h/t Rabbi Yehudah Richter)
Blowback: How Israel Helped Create HamasThe Americans did the exact same thing with the Mujahideen in Afhganistan. The CIA created Al Qaeda and ISIS, too.
19 May 2021
16 May 2021
Chag Sameach Post Script
5 Sivan 5781
Erev Chag Shavuot
49 Days of the Omer
I hope everyone is properly thanking HKB"H right now for the damage that has gone into property rather than into people, although there has been some of that, too. The iron dome is not taking out these missiles. We are made aware of that every time there is an accident with one and it doesn't work. It is just the physical embodiment (disguise) for HKB"H's miracles.
I, for one, am very thankful that on the other hand the disguise the Arabs have been wearing has finally come off. Their actions and disloyalty were predictable. Kahane was right. But even he got it straight from our Holy Torah, as quoted previously. We read it year after year after year with no response. I can't help wondering how many people affected by these riots are ready to give up on their dreams of coexistence and deport the traitors. Of those, I'm wondering how many have actually said "sorry" to HKB"H for not being willing to do what He commanded us to do until the fire was already raging.
On Shavuot, we recall our wedding vows to HKB"H. Let us repay all His kindnesses to us with a full, complete and unequivocal return to Him in faithfulness and with thanksgiving.
REDEMPTION HAS ARRIVED!
CHAG SHAVUOT SAMEACH!
5 Sivan 5781
Erev Chag Shavuot
49 Days of the Omer
Now, more than ever, Am Yisrael needs to rededicate itself to the marriage contract between us and Hashem - to keep the covenant faithfully in all its details. Next year at the Beit HaMikdash!!
15 May 2021
"How to Fix Gaza"
5 Sivan 5781
Erev Shavuot
49 Days of the Omer
If you don't know who Hady Amr is, please quickly refer to this recent blog post: "GO HOME, HADY AMR!!" [See further "Biden's anti-Israel 'point man' is behind plan to fund the Palestinians."]
I've been saying that these 'situations' that keep cropping up here in Israel are contrived, orchestrated, pre-planned in order to advance a global agenda. It's not just a conspiracy theory.
by Barak Ravid Feb 17, 2021...Amr was the "bottom-up" guy during his four years of dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian issue during the Obama administration.
- He worked closely with the Israelis to advance projects like 3G networks for Gaza or sewage systems in the West Bank.
- During the 2014 Gaza War, Amr worked around the clock to redistribute all U.S. assistance to the Palestinians into humanitarian aid for Gaza.
- It fell to Amr to implement policies agreed to at the top level — often between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Secretary of State John Kerry — in a very difficult political environment.
...Amr is developing plans to re-engage with the Palestinian Authority, roll back some of Trump's policies and resume financial aid to the Palestinians, likely beginning with $75 million already allocated by Congress for aid and development projects....Amr will have two short-term political challenges: resetting U.S. policy on West Bank settlements without sparking a fight with the Israeli government and drafting a policy on the Palestinian parliamentary elections planned for May 22....Worth noting: Due to unusual circumstances, Amr is wearing at least two other hats beyond his deputy assistant secretary role.Without a special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Amr will represent the U.S. in formats like the Quartet, which includes diplomats from Russia, the UN and the EU. That group met over Zoom on Monday.Amr is also the de facto U.S. head of mission to the Palestinians because the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem was merged by the Trump administration into the embassy to Israel in 2019.
Hady Amr's connection to the Brookings Institute, a so-called "think-tank" founded in 1916, is key. [See also "Disclosure: Brookings Takes Millions From Foreign Governments"]
ORDER FROM CHAOSHady Amr, Ilan Goldenberg, Kevin Huggard, and Natan Sachs December 3, 2018
...Here’s what might work: The United States and Egypt, with the Office of the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, should agree—as key influencers to the parties—on a joint framework, get the rest of the international community on board, and push it in times of both conflict and peace. Such a framework would join short- and long-term economic stabilization initiatives with the political arrangements needed to avert conflict and achieve the reintegration of Gaza and the West Bank....our proposal faces many obstacles and at present would likely not have buy-in from all the relevant parties. Its achievement may only be possible with the extreme pressures the parties would face in the middle of another war or with changes of leadership or policy from Israel, the Palestinians, and the United States....the international community can and should start working together now to set the table for this solution, even if it is still years away.
~ ~ ~
Anyone know if this is true?
13 May 2021
MESSAGE FROM UNDER THE PALM TREE
2 Sivan 5781
46 Days of the Omer
After months of "lockdowns" with absolute control of the entire population of the country, are we really to believe that suddenly, the country is out of control? The most popular question going around right now has to be: "Where are the police?"
After months of writing tickets for violations of mask-wearing rules, are we really to believe that there is no one to stop the rioting, the lynching, the fire-bombings, the stabbings, the shootings, the arson, the desecrations, the beatings???
People, the situation is what it is because the same people who wanted it that way over the past year, now want it the way it is today. This is the same war I wrote about in seven parts a couple of weeks ago. It's just another phase of it.
They mean to move in here and physically take over. They mean to establish a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital (as they've been saying all along), the "Holy Basin" (the Old City with the Temple Mount) in the hands of the UN; the "settlements" dismantled or abandoned. For every Palestinian refugee, a Jewish refugee. God forbid! But, now, wouldn't that be fair, they'll say.
Obviously, they'll say, neither the Arabs nor the Jews can be trusted to resolve this situation which impinges upon the well-being of the entire world; therefore, the world will have to take the matter in hand and impose a solution. Hashem yerachem!! They mean to make it so bad for us here that we will welcome them with open arms. But, they'll be waiting until hell freezes over!!
No one is telling the truth about the real causes of what's happening. The truth is inconvenient. It doesn't advance the right narrative.
This is their plan, but HKB"H also has a plan. It might include letting them go so far and it might not. Be prepared either way, but keep in mind that HKB"H is the One in control.
Pretend this is May 2020 instead of May 2021. Stay off the streets as much as you can. When you have to be out, best to be in a group and have a weapon to hand. Increase Torah, mitzvot and acts of kindness towards your fellow Jews as much as you can. Know that there is no such thing as "co-existence" on this Land. We are at war, Arabs are the enemy, view them as such. Pray for redemption and deliverance. Our only hope is in HASHEM!!
GO HOME, HADY AMR!!
2 Sivan 5781
46 Days of the Omer
US deputy assistant secretary for Israeli-Palestinian affairs Hady Amr will fly to Israel later Wednesday as Washington steps up its engagement aimed at de-escalating the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas.Amr will head to the region “immediately” to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Wednesday press conference, confirming earlier Times of Israel reports.“He will bring to bear his decades of experience, and in particular, he will urge on my behalf and on behalf of President Biden a de-escalation of violence. We are very focused on this,” Blinken said.
Amr was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1967, but grew up mostly in New Jersey and Virginia. He earned a B.A. in economics from Tufts University, before receiving an M.A. in International Affairs at Princeton University. He served in the administration of Bill Clinton in the Department of Defense, according to the BBC. He served as an appointee, at which time he served briefly at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at National Defense University. From 2001 to 2006, he managed an independent consulting practice, the Amr Group. He also worked for and advised the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and other international institutions. He is a former economist and a consultant to the World Bank and the United Nations. He has written extensively about the impact of Palestinian uprisings and the prospects of peace in the region.He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and previously served on Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Advisory Committee. In 2002, Virginia Governor Mark Warner appointed him to serve on the Virginia Public Schools Authority, a position to which he was reappointed by Governor Tim Kaine, serving through 2010.From 2006 to 2010, he served as a fellow at the Brookings Institution and the founding director of the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. In 2010, he also served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. From 2010–2013, he served as a Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Middle East at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He served as United States Deputy Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations from 2014–2017, working on a team under Secretary of State John Kerry, focusing on economic issues. He joined the negotiations team in the summer of 2013.In November 2020, Amr was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the United States Department of State.Amr is the author of publications including The Need to Communicate: How to Improve U.S. Public Diplomacy with the Islamic World and "The Opportunity of the Obama Era: How Civil Society Can Help Bridge Divides between the United States and a Diverse Muslim World" published by Brookings. He has also been published by Newsweek, The Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, and The Daily Star (Lebanon). For the U.N., he authored a number of reports, including "The State of the Arab Child".In May 2021, he was sent to the Middle East to help defuse tensions between Israel and Palestine. (Source)
(February 4, 2021 / JNS) “I was inspired by the Palestinian intifada,” Hady Amr wrote a year after Sept. 11, 2001, discussing his work as the national coordinator of the anti-Israel Middle East Justice Network.U.S. President Joe Biden has now chosen Amr as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israel-Palestine....Amr accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and coordinated an organization that had accused Israel of apartheid, making his appointment, like that of Maher Bitar, an anti-Israel activist appointed as the senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council, a statement about the Biden administration’s stance towards the Jewish state.
12 May 2021
THE TIMELESS TORAH - AS TRUE TODAY AS IT WAS YESTERDAY
1 Sivan 5781
Rosh Chodesh
45 Days of the Omer
Bamidbar 33.52-56...you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their temples, destroy their molten idols, and demolish their high places.You shall clear out the Land and settle in it, for I have given you the Land to occupy it....But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the Land from before you, then those whom you leave over will be as spikes in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will harass you in the land in which you settle.And it will be that what I had intended to do to them, I will do to you.
See also ‘Kristallnacht in Lod’: State of emergency as Arab mobs set synagogues on fire; Following Muslim Riots, Israel Declares State of Emergency in LodFierce rioting continued throughout Tuesday night in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod and a state of emergency was declared, with Defense Minister Benny Gantz announcing the deployment of several Border Police units to help quell the violence that saw the burning of three synagogues and dozens of cars.At least two people were in serious condition from the clashes, one from rocks. In Acco, another mixed Arab-Jewish city in northern Israel, an 84-yer-old man was seriously hurt when a restaurant was set on fire by rioters. Some 25 residents of Ramla and Lod were arrested on Tuesday night, according to a police spokesperson. Some 151 were arrested in total within the central-northern district of Israel.
Muslims Desecrate Synagogues and Jewish Schools in Pogrom in Ramle-Lod
...As part of the attacks, the rioters pillaged synagogues, ransacked the houses of prayer and desecrated the Torah scrolls. In addition, they attacked Jewish schools in the city.
...The World Organization of Synagogues expressed “deep shock” at the severe damage to synagogues in the cities of Lod and Ramla by Arab rioters and “condemns and strongly protests the severe damage to the holy places of Israel.”
“The harsh images of desecrated and burned synagogues must shock every citizen of every religion. Synagogues are the beating heart of Judaism, and in the State of Israel their status is no less than symbols of government. The Israel Police is called upon to act with all its might for this task of guarding the synagogues, and enforcing the law with the rioters.”
Mayor of Lod Yair Revivo stated Tuesday that it was a “sad morning for all of us in Lod, 70 years of coexistence were trampled on by Arabs in a series of pogroms, vandalism, damage to symbols of government, shattering windshields and throwing Molotov cocktails at the new town hall we entered just last week, enormous damage to the mosaic museum, burning synagogues, a Talmud Torah schools, dozens of vehicles, burning garbage containers, destroying Israeli flags and, worse, lowering the Israeli flag and hoisting the Palestinian flag, on a night of riots that injured policemen and residents who found themselves besieged.”
11 May 2021
Tel Aviv and Surroundings Under Bombardment
1 Sivan 5781
Rosh Chodesh
45 Days of the Omer
Unrest, riots, violence, damage, destruction, injured, dead - every Rosh Chodesh, it seems to ratchet a bit higher, so, of course, it would spread to Tel Aviv tonight. Just waiting for it to start from the North next. There is no avoiding it. This non-government is going to fail spectacularly.
Words We've Been Waiting a Very Long Time to Hear
29 Iyyar 5781
Erev Rosh Chodesh-Yom Kippur Katan
44 Days of the Omer
Erev Rosh Chodesh-Yom Kippur Katan
44 Days of the Omer
[Excerpted from the full 4-hour video of the Yom Yerushalayim celebration HERE.]
I had a very difficult time getting this clip due to its length as well as the length of the original. The video quality is not very good, so if you prefer, go to the original using the link above and advance the time to 02:08:00 or thereabouts.
10 May 2021
Let's Finish This
29 Iyyar 5781
Erev Rosh Chodesh-Yom Kippur Katan
44 Days of the Omer
UPDATE: [2:00 AM] "Hamas says it's suspending planned attack as Israeli forces leave Temple Mount."
[10:00PM] Rocket salvos are being shot at Ashqelon and Sha'ar HaNegev, as well as Eshkol about every ten minutes. Rioting continues at Damascus Gate and on Har Habayit, while demonstrations are reported in Yafo, Haifa, Nazareth and other places across the country.
[9:05 PM] Launching 10 rockets to Ashqelon
[8:42PM]
Islamic Jihad threatens to renew rocket fire at 9 p.m.
09 May 2021
THE FUTURE OF JERUSALEM
28 Iyyar 5781
43 Days of the Omer
43 Days of the Omer
UPDATING: (6:30 PM) The Knesset was evacuated. I won't be able to keep this up. It's gonna be a long night. Keep abreast of the news.
This is a good Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/ignis_fatum
To get Red Alerts: https://t.me/CumtaAlertsEnglishChannel
(6:27 PM) Alarms on Ashkelon Beach, Negev Gate, Sderot and surroundings
(6:14PM) Israel Police: An alarm was recently sounded in the city of Jerusalem. Police forces, organized in the Western Wall plaza, among others, began evacuating hundreds of those present to safe places.
Interceptions , impacts from Kiryat Gat through Beit Shemesh, and Jerusalem "
~ ~ ~
13 mins to zero hour...
ISRAEL GOES ON HIGH ALERT: Air Traffic Diverted, Hospitals On Standby, Bomb Shelters Opened, Fears Of Imminent Hamas Attack
Happy Yom Yerushalayim - commemorating the wondrous miracle of a reunited Jerusalem. Another step closer to the ultimate reunification between the Beit HaMikdash Lema'alah and the Beit HaMikdash Lematah.
R. Richter: The State of Israel: G-D's Hand or Satan's? Finally, a Guide for the Perplexed - Part 2
27 Iyyar 5781
42 Days of the Omer
The State of Israel: G-D's Hand or Satan's? Finally, a Guide for the Perplexed - Part 2
42 Days of the Omer
The State of Israel: G-D's Hand or Satan's? Finally, a Guide for the Perplexed - Part 2
Don't overlook the comments section on the previous blog post.
08 May 2021
"A Year Later: Regaining Direction"
27 Iyyar 5781
42 Days of the Omer
Shavua Tov!
07 May 2021
"HELP!"
25 Iyyar 5781
40 Days of the Omer
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Behar/Bechukotai - Mevorchim
Parashat Behar/Bechukotai - Help! - Rabbi Meir Kahane
If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him – proselyte or resident – so that he can live with you. Do not take from him interest and increase; you shall fear your G-d and let your brother live with you. (Lev. 25:35,36)
King Solomon said (Prov. 21:13), “He who stops his ears at the cry of the poor shall also cry himself but shall not be answered. ”Anyone who deserts a person who needs him, will in turn be deserted by G-d. This is what happened to Elimelech: Elimelech was one of the leaders of the nation and sustainers of the generation. Yet when the years of famine arrived, he said: All Israel are gathering around my door, each one with his basket [asking for donations]. He got up and ran away from the Land (Ruth Rabbah 1:4). And he was punished for this by dying – he and both of his sons – in exile. Anyone who forsakes the divine commandment of lovingkindness – G-d will forsake him, measure for measure: Thus says Hashem: You have abandoned Me, and I, too, have abandoned you (2 Chronicles 12:5).
Kindness and kind deeds are a general category that includes many individual mitzvot like charity, marrying off a poor girl, visiting the sick and comforting mourners. Truthfully, the potential for kind deeds is immeasurable. Anything one does for his fellow man, even offering a single kind word, is part of the kindness that builds the world. In other words, every good deed one does for his fellow man is called good because of the kindness it contains, because kindness is the fundamental kernel within all good. Loving one's fellow Jew is a mitzvah of global importance. Love, respect and reverence for our fellow Jew, created in G-d's image and sanctified at Sinai as G-d's elect, is the duty of every single Jew, because he is part of that chosen people. Every Jew must grow spiritually by showing love and respect for his fellow Jew. In that way, he expresses his esteem for someone holy and select, created in G-d's image and chosen at Sinai to be G-d's special treasure. In effect, he gains self-esteem as well. These benefits are secondary to the main benefit accrued: Though such behavior one suppresses the evil impulse and breaks down his ego. This is man's purpose, and doing so exalts and sanctifies him. It says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The moment a person equates someone else – through the love and respect he shows him – with himself, thereby ceasing to view himself as the center of the world, his own ego will begin to grow smaller.
Kindness for one's fellow man, even for someone who is not one's relative and whom one does not know at all, is the trait that separates man from beast. It is this which elevates man to a level just beneath the angels, and perhaps just above them. Man's ability to give and to sacrifice his property and time for his fellow man is what G-d wished to implement on earth when He created it, and for this he created man.
R. Elazar said (Succah 49b), “Charity is only rewarded according to the kindness it contains, as it says (Hosea 10:12), 'Sow charity for yourselves, reap according to kindness.'” Rashi comments, “The giving is charity. The trouble taken is kindness, for example, bringing the money to the poor person's house, or taking the trouble that it should help him a lot... in short, paying full heed to the poor man's welfare.” How true are Rashi's words! Once more we have clear proof that the purpose of charity and kindness is its influence on the soul of the one offering it.
Make no mistake. Kindness, per se, is not the main purpose of creation or of Torah. Rather, it is the most outstanding, pronounced expression of modesty, self-abnegation, subjugation of the evil impulse and acceptance of G-d's yoke discernible in man. Man, by giving, nullifies his sense of taking. By worrying about his fellow man, he suppresses his selfishness, arrogance and lust. There is nothing great or praiseworthy about the poor person receiving kindness or charity. In taking and benefiting, one performs no mitzvah. The mitzvah is entirely in that the giver gives, that the kind person's mercy wells up and he forgets himself, his property and his selfishness, suppressing his ego and giving of his money or time to someone else. In doing so, he reinforces the humility within. By suppressing his evil impulse and lessening his lust, arrogance and selfishness, he fulfills his task on this earth. For this he was created. It is patently obvious that the main purpose of kind deeds is not that the receiver receive but that the giver give. Regarding tzedaka (“charity”), Chazal said a great thing which holds true regarding all mitzvot between man and his fellow man: The poor man does more for the donor than the donor does for the poor man. For as Ruth said to Naomi, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz” (Ruth 2:19). It does not say “who worked with me,” but “with whom I worked”. She said to her: Many good deeds have I done with him today for the slice that he gave me (Leviticus Rabbah 34:8). True, the simple meaning is that the master receives greater income from G-d than what he gives in charity. But Chazal take this far deeper: the greatness of the mitzvah of tzedaka is not that the poor man receives, but that the giver gives. There is no greatness in a person receiving something material – but great is the person who gives to someone else, thereby relinquishing the benefit that he could have received from his money. Performing this mitzvah affects his soul. He elevates and sanctifies it by removing the selfishness that encrusts it. Therefore Ruth said, Many good deeds have I done with him today. The same applies to any form of kindness that a person performs for his fellow-man: the greatness lies, not in the receiving, but in the active performance of giving. This is the great difference between Torah and socialism: Torah emphasizes the giving, whereas socialism emphasizes the receiving – and receiving only increases the selfishness of the recipient, who will never be satisfied with what he has received. The Jews who distort the Torah are so influenced by the alien culture that they turn kindness and mercy into goals in and of themselves. By such means they elevate them above all the mitzvot, necessarily diminishing the value of all other mitzvot. They also push the concepts of kindness and mercy to foolish and dangerous extremes, while they themselves include wicked enemies of the Jewish People. The real meaning of kindness and truth is that these principles are only part, albeit an exceedingly marked and conspicuous part, of the Torah's main purpose and goal – self-abnegation and suppression of our evil impulse and arrogance. All the mitzvot were given for this purpose, but kindness and mercy are the most direct path to this goal, as I have explained. Such acts express the Torah's essence, breaking down one's ego. The word mercy – “rachamim” in Hebrew – comes from “rechem”, womb. There is no mercy like that of a mother for the child of her womb. There is an inseparable bond between them because the child is part of her body, “flesh of her flesh” (Gen. 2:23). Just so must be a Jew's mercy for his fellow Jew (if that fellow is worthy). It should resemble a mother's mercy for her child.
Compiled from “The Jewish Idea" and "Peirush Hamaccabee - Shemot" of Rav Meir Kahane, HY”D
(Source)
~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~
06 May 2021
ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT
24 Iyyar 5781
39 Days of the Omer
יהונתן פולארד סופד ליהודה גואטה הי"ד
AMEN, Yehonatan!! And may all the korbanot, taken in order to arouse Klal Yisrael to teshuvah before that great and awesome day, merit to return to life speedily at techiyat hameitim and enjoy all the Days of Mashiach.
~ ~ ~
Most of the people who read here know that we are in a birrur process which was prophesied to occur before the coming of Mashiach. By its very definition, it is a clarifying process which through various tests that Hashem puts us through, makes it clear who is 100% with Hashem and His Torah and who is not. Does that mean we have to be 100% perfect in all that we are doing? ABSOLUTELY NOT! It means that we have to have 100% faith and trust in HKB"H with no doubts whatsoever! We have to believe 100% that ayn od milevado!
If you put your faith in HKB"H, but add something more alongside Him, like the protection of a vaccine, or the Israeli army, or the help of Christians, or the support and approval of other nations, this is NOT 100% faith and trust in HKB"H and whether you can admit it or not, it is a form of idolatry. This needing something alongside Hashem was the basis for making the Golden Calf.
The birrur by its nature makes a division between those who are on the right side and those who are on the wrong side. You have to look at it through the lens of "Mi l'Hashem elai!" This was Moshe Rabbeinu's call to the nation to separate out those who opposed the Golden Calf from those who were for it. Mattityahu HaChashmonai made the same call to his family and neighbors and from there to the whole nation when he called upon them to make their choice - they could be a Jew or they could be a Greek, but there was no such thing as mixing the two together as Hellenism demanded.
Here we are again with the nations who would dominate us urging us to deny our Torah and mitzvot in order to come closer to them and be counted among the family of nations, rather than being set apart as Hashem's special chosen people - set apart to serve Him and set an example for the rest of humanity. Instead of them asking us to show them the way to reach our elevated state, they demand that we lower ourselves to their level in order that we all become one - one in rebellion against the Creator of All, G-d forbid!
It's a death trap prepared for us by the Angel of Death himself. I'm just here to beg you not to fall into that trap!! ANYTHING (or anyone) that calls upon Jews to join together with gentiles - for ANY reason - means to keep you on the wrong side of that call that echoes down through all the generations - Mi l'Hashem elai!"
Now, I'm not talking about anyone's Olam Haba - that's a judgment only Hashem can make. But, it's already been established that those who are not 100% with HKB"H will not survive the birrur for who will merit to remain with Mashiach when nearly the whole world will be destroyed.
"Mi l'Hashem elai!" It has always been the minority who responded favorably to this call, never the majority. There has always been this division between those who were for Hashem and those who were for themselves. This is why Avraham Avinu found himself on one side - the Ivri - and the entire rest of the world was on the other side. But the joy of it is that he was not alone. He was with HKB"H - 100%!!
05 May 2021
"What We Need to Do Until Shavuot"
24 Iyyar 5781
39 Days of the Omer
39 Days of the Omer
I know the Rav is right because I was telling someone just the other day that I knew I was guilty of not showing HKB"H enough respect during davening, being distracted by other things and not making more of an effort to concentrate on what I was saying. That's two warnings for me. We have to get serious with our teshuvah. Time is almost up! That's why we had this big wake-up call at Meron!! Something worse may be coming!!!
In the Aftermath of Meron: What We Can Do? -62- HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Hillel
And if you missed this one earlier...
'EGGS'-TRAORDINARY
24 Iyyar 5781
39 Days of the Omer
The blog post reprinted below was originally written in 2013. It came to mind when I first heard the news that Yair Lapid was likely to be handed the mandate if Netanyahu failed to form a government. Now, it is official. It also came to mind when I was reading Rivka Levy's blog post from today, about how the truth of what happened in Meron is sure to come out.
The eggshell has some large cracks in it.
Basically, everything that is happening here which destroys the Am's faith in all the modern idols of our time - particularly State institutions which oppose the Torah - is another crack in the eggshell. If the most anti-Torah Judaism politician in the land becomes the leader of the secular Zionist State with the help of an Islamic Arab party, that will be the end of Zionism as we've known it. Whatever good sparks it contained will have all been expended and all that will be left is a useless shell.
29 Elul 5773
Which Came First, the State or the 'Egg'?
If you ordered a scrambled egg and it came with eggshell mixed with it, you'd no doubt be more than a bit surprised, to say the least. Everyone knows that you crack an eggshell, extract the egg and throw the shell away. It's only there to contain the egg until it's ready for use or in the case of a fertilized egg, to protect the developing chick until it's fully formed and ready to hatch.
The present State of Israel is like that eggshell. It is not the egg. It is no less a creation of the Creator, as is everything in existence, but it is only a means to an end, not the end in itself.
Rav Aryeh Carmell wrote:
...the first to predict the rise of a secular Jewish state as prelude to the coming of the Messiah is Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel of Prague (1525-1609) known as "Maharal", in his discussion of the rise of "the Kingdom of the Messiah".
Maharal affirms that the coming of the Messiah is not, as often thought a sudden event; it is a process. The "Holy kingdom of Israel" - Maharal's term for the reign of the Messiah will emerge from an earlier, non-holy kingdom.
...Maharal, in a telling parable, describes the relationship between the embryonic "kingdom of Israel" and its "Edomite" environment: Fruit grows within a husk; when the fruit ripens the husks falls off... So it is with Israel. Their kingdom emerges and grows from within the kingdom of the nations i.e., from the existential power of the kingdom of the nations, and from their level, it raises itself to a higher level. And when the kingdom of Israel reaches complete maturity the kingdom of nations is removed, just as the husk is removed, and falls off when the fruit reaches its perfection.
For our purposes, we'll continue with the egg analogy since the concept is the same. The first sign that the chick has become viable and is ready to hatch is when it begins to crack and peck holes in the shell. The shell, which has been home for many weeks is now too uncomfortable, so the chick begins to break his way out and let me tell you, it is a long, hard struggle to break free of that shell.
We can learn many lessons from this for our own time and our own situation here in Eretz Yisrael.
My first thoughts are: Why are we so comfortable inside the shell that we don't care about breaking out into a new reality? Are we afraid? Or do we just lack vision and faith to get there? Are the current "decrees" against the Torah-observant community a way for Hashem to say "It's time to hatch, little chick?"
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