25 Years Gone From Us

5 Tevet 5786

In Loving Memory of Binyamin Ze'ev and Talya Kahane, our teachers and friends, may Hashem avenge their righteous blood!!!

So young!  Even now, they should still have had many more years ahead.  Witness to their parents' murder, their little ones have grown up without them.  Tali's two-month-old infant was in her arms when she was shot.  A curse upon those responsible!! Though I can't imagine a punishment harsh enough to do justice to the crime!

Time Passes, But Nothing Changes

5 Tevet 5786 

Spinning Our Wheels

When are we going to snap out of it and get off this wheel?!  "The Surrender" goes back even further than most think - at least as far back as Oslo! 

Something I saved from 20 years ago.  The seeds of October 7, 2023 were being sown even then!

15 November 2005

Rice Secures Rafah Package Stripped of Adequate Counter-Terror Safeguards

The White House ordered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to stay over in Jerusalem until the deal for the Gaza Strip’s international crossings was in the bag. She was almost there – “an accord is within sight” – Monday, Nov. 14. But she delayed her departure to join President Bush in South Korea until it was settled down to the last detail at issue between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The breakthrough was announced after she met defense minister Shaul Mofaz Tuesday morning. It was achieved after Israel backed down from virtually all its demands for security safeguards against terrorist incursions.

...Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon relinquished a key element of Israel’s sovereign right to self-defense and agreed to hamstring its own army’s freedom to combat terror. The presence of Palestinian customs inspectors at Kerem Shalom makes an additional inroad on Israeli sovereignty.

From Dec. 15 to January 15, “secured Palestinian convoys” will start rolling across southern Israel from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank. The Palestinians want their own forces to secure the trucks. All that has been settled is that the Americans and Europeans will determine the procedures for their passage through Israeli territory.

There is no sign of the Sharon government standing up to Washington’s demands on that point either, so it is more than likely that Palestinian “forces” will be let loose on a wide swathe of southern Israel to escort 150 trucks a day bound for Hebron, Ramallah, Jenin and Nablus.

The provisions for the Rafah crossing will also be applied to Gaza’s deep sea port construction of which begins without delay. Israel has therefore forfeited control and oversight over incoming goods and people to Gaza by sea as well as overland.

BEYOND ABSURD...

3 Tevet 5786 

THIS is Hanukkah

2 Tevet 5786
Eighth Cande of Hanukkah 
Zot Hanukkah

THIS is the essence of Hanukkah.  The same assmilationist forces, even after 2200 years, are still trying to destroy Judaism.  You can call yourself a Jew or an Israeli or a Zionist, a Chr*stian or a Muslim, but let go of the Torah.  In modern Israel, it's a cultural icon, a reminder of our history, but not to be taken too seriously.  Like the Torah Jew, the Torah itself must adapt to the 21st century where Technology is god.

But heed the eternal message of Hanukkah - "Mi l'Hashem elai!"  These assimilationist forces must be resisted at all costs.  The battle still continues...

Universal Draft for Israel

 

• Senior Dati Leumi Rabbanim Complain to Katz: “IDF Is Persuading Religious Girls to Enlist” 

• “You Chareidim Should Be Burned One By One:” The Rosh Yeshivah’s Shocking Testimony

• AG Seeks To Halt Funding For Yeshivos That Serve Overseas Students

~ "...In These Days, At This Time!" ~

"Al Hanissim, v'Al HaPurkan, v'Al HaGevurot, v'Al Teshuot, v'Al HaMilchamot..."

2 Tevet 5786
8th Candle of Hanukkah

"...for the miracles, and for the salvation, and for the mighty deeds, and for the victories, and for the battles which You performed for our forefathers (and for us!) in those days, at this time."    (The Al Hanissim Prayer)

* * * 

David to Goliath:  "You come to me with sword, spear and javelin, and I come to you with the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel which you have taunted.

This day, the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I shall slay you, and take off your head, and I shall give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines this day, to the fowl of the air and to the beasts of the earth, and all the earth shall know that Israel has a God.

And all this assembly shall know that not with sword and javelin does the Lord save, for the battle is the Lord's, and He will deliver you into our hand."

(I Samuel 17.45-47)

The Miracles Of Israel's War,
That Will Change Your Life

 Zot Chanukah

The "simple" explanation for this special name for the last day of Chanuka is the Torah reading from the end of Parshat Naso that emphatically announces ZOT CHANUKAT HA-MIZBEI'ACH (when the Torah is summing up the gifts of all the Tribal Leaders.

There is another, deeper meaning to the name. If you want to really know what Chanuka is all about, the answer is THIS, THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHANUKA - the fact that there are 8 days of Chanuka - ZOT CHANUKA, this is what Chanuka means. It means EIGHT. EIGHT is our answer to the Greek challenge. They said nature is perfect. They said it is a mutilation of the body to be circumcised. And they forbid us to fulfill that great mitzva of ours, under pain of death. EIGHT represents the step beyond TEVA, beyond nature. MILA on the 8th day represents our challenge to go beyond how we were created and take charge of the completion of our physical and spiritual form. The Mikdash began to function on its higher spiritual level on the EIGHTH day. The Greeks tried to take that away from us too. Torah was given to us on the day following seven sevens. It is an EIGHTH too. And the Greeks tried to take that from us also. With G-d's help, we prevailed over the Greeks and the triumph is celebrated with an 8 day holiday. This is Chanuka. ZOT CHANUKA.  

(Courtesy of OU.org)

MIKEITZ - "AT THE END"

29 Kislev 5786
Fifth Candle of Hanukkah
Erev SHabbat Kodesh
Parashat Mikeitz / Rosh Chodesh I 

This week's parashah, Mikeitz, is so named for the beginning of the first sentence - וַיְהִ֕י מִקֵּ֖ץ - which is translated "at the end," as in, at the end of an additional two years in prison, the time had come to free Yosef to fulfill his destiny.

No ending is ever truly The End.  Every ending is just a gateway to a new beginning.  As it was with Yosef HaTzadik, so it was with the Chashmonayim as well as many other examples in our history.  And so it is with us.  Just when it looks the darkest, that's when the light will shine forth

We are clearly standing at the ultimate end which will bring us to the ultimate new beginning - the complete Redemption.  And like his father before him, it is the Son of Yosef who will pave the way.

~ Shabbat Shalom, Chodesh Tov and Chanukah Sameach ~

A 14 Year-old Hanukkah Message

28 Kislev 5786
Fourth Candle of Hanukkah

Still relevant.  Re-posting...

From Moisheleh
2nd candle of Hanukah 5772

“Sevivon, sov, sov, sov, Hanukah hu chag tov…” These are the days of Hanukah and everyone is celebrating. There are parties, and there are exhibits, there are movies, there are shows, traveling for trips, and eating a lot of donuts and potato pancakes. But, as the children ask: “Why do we celebrate Hanukah?” Then, the secular for sure don’t know. They will say “perhaps because of the tasty donut…” And the chareidi, he knows that there was a war with Antiochus, with the Hellenists, etc. But, it doesn’t so much interest him like the movies, the trips and of course, like the vacation from cheder and school at Hanukah.

We are now at the second or third candle of Hanukah and I only want to cry, because again, we are the few against the many. But, not just the many of the wide world. We are not just the few against the gentiles who are many more than us. These are also among the Jews – we have enemies, also among the Jews – there are enemies to HKB”H. And this is the biggest problem. And the Hellenists who are in Eretz Yisrael and in all the lands of the world, they damage the rest of the Jews, the fire in the heart and in the soul of every Jew – these are the Erev Rav. Indeed, according to the law, they are Jews, but as we learn, at the end, before Mashiach comes, the Erev Rav will be the most serious enemy. Because they are Jews according to the law and part of them are even “chareidim,” and these are chareidim who hate holiness and faith and trust in HKB”H and they are even sometimes rabbis and leaders of the chareidi world. And sometimes, they are Torah scholars and sometimes simple Jews, the most regular. But, there is one common denominator for everyone: They hate holiness. They hate the connection with HKB”H – the special connection of every single Jew.

And since they went out of Egypt with us, they envy us, but they can’t come to faith and trust and love of Hashem, because they remained strangers. And today, if we look at chareidi society and how they celebrate Hanukah, we see clearly how a few Erev Rav have managed to weaken the Yiddishkeit of Am Yisrael. Many Jews, very many chareidi, religious, secular Jews light Hanukah menorahs on this holiday - chanukiot. They’re lighting candles for eight nights. This is seemingly a good sign, that there are more and more Jews really celebrating such an important holiday. But, if we look and observe more closely then, how that the estranged sometimes make some gesture to HKB”H, on this they do some thing like hearing the megillah at Purim, or to light Hanukah candles, nevertheless together with it – the chareidim more and more are receiving the leaders of the Hellenists.

The Jews love entertainment. There is a vacation, so entertainment is a must. But, this entertainment pertains to the eigel hazahav and the eigel hazahav pertains to the Erev Rav. Our Hanukah is full-full of foreign customs that have entered into us within the holy of holies - the trips, the movies, the shows, etc. I already hear the laughter of many Jews: “But, we have to relax…have to have a little fun… have to go some place, and see what it’s possible to do with the children, so much time without cheder, without school. You can go crazy…”

But it’s not “you can go crazy,” because in truth, we’ve already “gone crazy.” We are drunk on the degraded customs and behaviors of the gentiles. And in the near future we will have a very difficult awakening.

And because of this, we are writing these last messages. It’s already almost twenty years since we began to bring messages to the chareidi Jewish world. And now the time is finished, because in just a little bit, the world is going to change completely. And the change will be very difficult. The change will be very frightening. And the process of the change will be very, very hard on everyone.

We’ve already entered into this period and to this stage that’s before the redemption. And there’s nothing more for us to say. And every one of us who writes now these messages, tries to organize all the things that we’ve said in a few words so that it will be for you a sort of teacher of the way, to those who aren’t Torah scholars, in order that you may pass through this time in ease or at least more easily.

Again, I will remind you: Every true Jew will survive. If he is farther from the truth, Hashem will drag him the strong and hard way until he will understand the truth and will accept it. If he is closer to Hashem, he will suffer less. And if a Jew dies before this redemption period, that’s not to say that he is Erev Rav. Because, for the Erev Rav, there will be a special death so that everyone will know that they were Erev Rav and not a good Jew.

Therefore, again, we will go over all the problems that we have in Olam Hazeh. And I turn to the matter for the Jews abroad. And don’t tell me that the Satmar Rebbe, ztz”l said that it’s forbidden to come to live in the State of Israel, because I know this and I believe this. But, if the Satmar Rebbe ztz”l were here today, I believe he also would go up to the Land. Because he would see that this is the end. And not only this, I am sure that the Satmar Rebbe ztz”l, from his good place in Olam Haba, cries very much over his community and over all the communities of Am Yisrael. And especially those abroad, who use his name in order to make big sins. And use what he wrote in order to prevent, at this moment, Jews from coming to the Land.

Because, I am sure that he himself would get up and lead his community here, because the world is in a huge danger. Every European Jew and every American Jew is in a huge danger, spiritually and physically. And within a very short time, you will understand what I am saying. The spiritual danger in America and in Europe and in the Land now – it’s the same thing. The eigel hazahav has destroyed the Jews in every place in the world, and if we will continue with it, it will destroy all of Judaism. But if we add up all the dangers, the least dangerous place is Eretz Yisrael, even that still there is here a government of evildoers. Because we have a promise from HKB”H that Eretz Yisrael - not “the State of Israel” - it’s Eretz Yisrael that won’t be destroyed. Eretz Yisrael will remain. And in Eretz Yisrael, we will build the Third Temple, with G-d’s help, and in Eretz Yisrael we will receive our righteous Mashiach in the near future, with G-d’s help. But in the United States, and in Europe, and in similar places, the physical, bodily danger to Jews, the danger of anti-Semitism is growing and growing. And there is not one promise from Heaven that the United States and Europe will not be destroyed.

Jews, you know the prophecies, two thirds of the world will be destroyed. One-third, including Edom, will be completely destroyed; a second third very severe, and Eretz Yisrael will not be harmed.

I ask from you a moment to think, to observe. All your parties, especially abroad, all your chesed, all your prayers, all your faith and trust in Hashem, all your Torah learning, what is it worth? Not much. Why? Because, for the majority, it’s just a decoration for your physical needs, your physicalities. For the majority, it’s not something deep. It’s simply a reason to do what you want. A famous example, in America, is that in the majority of synagogues there are so many people talking with one another until it’s almost impossible to pray. This thing is known in the United States.

There is much, much chesed, but much of this chesed is not real. It’s chesed for the sake of ensuring livelihood. It’s almost a superstition and not as faith and trust in HKB”H. The Jews abroad, very, very much want entertainment, must have the entertainment. And they don’t understand that the entertainment is goyische; it’s a waste of time. We have a small amount of time to live and we’re wasting it on entertainment. Pity! A pity on every moment!

There are the Torah scholars, the young men, who sit and learn and woe to us, woe to us. What is the Torah without a soul? What is the Torah without holiness? And this is what there is in the majority of yeshivas. And abroad it’s worse, but also in the Land. In these yeshivas are a lot of young men and they learn really wonderfully, but they are without holiness, the majority. And if there’s no holiness, there’s no Torah, because the basis, the foundation of all of Yiddishkeit, of all of Torah, is holiness. This holiness is the shield on each part of life. And a Jew who is holy, how can he walk around dressed in tight pants and short jacket and all day, he just decides which tie he will choose to wear? How can it be that a groom, a chasid, goes with a shtreimel that looks like a “clown hat” with sharp tips that makes it higher than it is? Because there is nothing for a person to do. The shtreimel that was once a symbol of a crown - of something special, spiritual - it’s the opposite of a “clown’s hat.” Indeed, prestigious, but without holiness.

In general, every matter of the sanctity of marriage is really turned into a gentile thing. All the ideas are non-Jewish ideas, at least usually. The vast majority of counselors rely much on psychology and on the gentile direction of a relationship between a married couple. And this is very sick. And it’s anti-Torah.

Psychology has also entered every matter of education in the cheders and yeshivas. Because there are severe problems, so they accuse the Torah for the problems. Because the Torah, G-d forbid, is “not modern” and it “doesn’t understand the children,” G-d forbid. But, in truth, the problem in the yeshivas and cheders is that they don’t walk according to the Torah.; that they’re trying to live a life of the gentiles. Because in the moment that we live a-life-of-the-gentiles, then we are receiving the sicknesses and the problems of the gentiles.

A large part of our children is in a very difficult situation. They are not behaving exactly like Jews, even though they dress like Jews and they’re not exactly gentiles, because nevertheless, there is some Jewish soul, usually. Woe to us, I won’t get more into things, because you can read enough all the communications that we did during twenty years.

But, what I will tell you, if you don’t return in real teshuva, and stop yearning for all the materialism that’s murdering us, murdering our Yiddishkeit, murdering our eternity, then you have to take out this evil inclination from the head and the heart and come to the truth; to enjoy and to yearn to be close to HKB”H. To feel the emotion that is impossible to describe, the feeling that’s so wonderful of a man who is close to the Master of the World, the Omnipotent. The feeling of ease, of release, of lack of heaviness of man, that can arise, up, up, easy-as-pie and come to a good place. Am Yisrael, again I will say: sit on the floor, put on sackcloth and ashes, cry to HKB”H, beg forgiveness for all the sins, cry with real tears,, because without it, without doing a hard operation and taking out the poison of the eigel hazahav that the Erev Rav put into us, without taking it out completely – you will suffer very much.

Yes, there will be a war - a very difficult and fearful war; war that many millions will go from the world. But, the true Jews will survive and will receive our righteous Mashiach. And these will enjoy the greatest pleasure that there is. And it is closeness to HKB”H. And we will continue to arise and come close to HKB”H, more and more. We, this is the basis of HKB”H in the new world for His final creation. The creation that will be a world within which really everything is absolutely good. End.

Netanyahu Has Truly Lost the Plot

27 Kislev 5786
Third Candle of Hanukkah

Either he is completely out of touch with reality or he is making very cynical use of the holiday to score points with the gentiles.  In his speech given at the Western Wall Hanukkah candlelighting event he made the following statements... 

“...We are fighting today the battle that the Maccabees fought.  They fought for the survival of the Jewish people and the Jewish faith against an enemy who wanted to extinguish us, wipe us out from the face of the earth.  We were fighting our battle but we were also fighting the battle of civilization, because our civilization is built on the Judeo-Chr*stian tradition."  

"If the Maccabees had failed, there would be no Judaism. There would be no Judeo-Christian civilization. There would be no United States.  ...There wouldn't be the civilization of freedom.  The respect for our common traditions, our common values, all of that would not happen were it not for [the Maccabees].”

Considering that "Judeo-Ch*stianity" is itself the modern incarnation of Hellenism, his remarks are not only self-serving, they are at odds with the historical record.  

Western civilization, which he champions so faithfully and eloquently, is the inheritor of Greece, the very empire the Maccabees fought against.  

These remarks are jarring in their disconnect from the truth. 

The eternal people deserves a more worthy leader.  Mashiach NOW!!

It Would Not Be Hanukkah Without Rabbi Kahane's Timeless Classic...

26 Kislev 5786
Second Candle of Hanukkah  

DOWN WITH CHANUKAH

by Rabbi Meir Kahane, December 15, 1972

If I were a Reform rabbi; if I were a leader of the Establishment whose money and prestige have succeeded in capturing for him the leadership and voice of American Jewry; if I were one of the members of the Israeli Government’s ruling group; if I were an enlightened sophisticated, modern Jewish intellectual, I would climb the barricades and join in battle against the most dangerous of all Jewish holidays – Chanukah.

It is a measure of the total ignorance of the world Jewish community that there is no holiday that is more universally celebrated than the “Feast of Lights”, and it is an equal measure of the intellectual dishonesty and of Jewish leadership that it plays along with the lie.  For if ever there was a holiday that stands for everything that the mass of world Jewry and their leadership has rejected – it is this one.  If one would find an event that is truly rooted in everything that Jews of our times and their leaders have rejected and, indeed, attacked – it is this one.  If there is any holiday that is more “unJewish” in the sense of our modern beliefs and practices – I do not know of it.

The Chanukah that has erupted unto the world Jewish scene in all its childishness, asininity, shallowness, ignorance and fraud – is not the Chanukah of reality.  The Chanukah that came into vogue because Jewish parents – in their vapidness – needed something to counteract Christmas; that exploded in a show of “we-can-have-lights-just-as-our-goyish-neighbors” and in an effort to reward our spoiled children with eight gifts instead of the poor Christian one; the Chanukah that the Temple, under its captive rabbi, turned into a school pageant so that the beaming parents might think that the Religious School is really successful instead of the tragic joke and waste that it really is; the Chanukah that speaks of Jewish Patrick Henrys giving-me-liberty-or death and the pictures of Maccabees as great liberal saviors who fought so that the kibbutzim might continue to be free to preach their Marx and eat their ham, that the split-level dwellers of suburbia might be allowed to violate their Sabbath in perfect freedom and the Reform and Conservative Temples continue the fight for civil rights for Blacks, Puerto Ricans and Jane Fonda, is not remotely connected with reality.

This is NOT the Chanukah of our ancestors, of the generations of Jews of Eastern Europe and Yemen and Morocco and the crusades and Spain and Babylon. It is surely not the Chanukah for which the Maccabees themselves died. Truly, could those whom we honor so munificently, return and see what Chanukah has become, they might very well begin a second Maccabean revolt.  For the life that we Jews lead today was the very cause, the REAL reason for the revolt of the Jews “in those days in our times.”

What happened in that era more than 2000 years ago?  What led a handful of Jews to rise up in violence against the enemy?  And precisely who WAS the enemy?  What were they fighting FOR and who were they fighting AGAINST?

For years, the people of Judea had been the vassals of Greece.  True independence as a state had been unknown for all those decades and, yet, the Jews did not rise up in revolt.  It was only when the Greek policy shifted from mere political control to one that attempted to suppress the Jewish religion that the revolt erupted in all its bloodiness.  It was not mere liberty that led to the Maccabean uprising that we so passionately applaud.  What we are really cheering is a brave group of Jews who fought and plunged Judea into a bloodbath for the right to observe the Sabbath, to follow the laws of kashruth, to obey the laws of the Torah.  IN A WORD EVERYTHING ABOUT CHANUKAH THAT WE COMMEMORATE AND TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO COMMEMORATE ARE THINGS WE CONSIDER TO BE OUTMODED, MEDIEVAL AND CHILDISH!

At best, then, those who fought and died for Chanukah were naïve and obscurantist.  Had we lived in those days we would certainly not have done what they did for everyone knows that the laws of the Torah are not really Divine but only the products of evolution and men (do not the Reform, Reconstructionist and large parts of the Conservative movements write this daily?)  Surely we would not have fought for that which we violate every day of our lives!  No, at best Chanukah emerges as a needless holiday if not a foolish one.  Poor Hannah and her seven children; poor Mattathias and Judah; poor well meaning chaps all but hopelessly backward and utterly unnecessary sacrifices.

But there is more.  Not only is Chanukah really a foolish and unnecessary holiday, it is also one that is dangerously fanatical and illiberal.  The first act of rebellion, the first enemy who fell at the hands of the brave Jewish heroes whom our delightful children portray so cleverly in their Sunday and religious school pageants, was NOT a Greek.  He was a Jew.

When the enemy sent its troops into the town of Modiin to set up an idol and demand its worship, it was a Jew who decided to exercise his freedom of pagan worship and who approached the altar to worship Zeus (after all, what business was it of anyone what this fellow worshipped?)  And it was this Jew, this apostate, this religious traitor who was struck down by the brave, glorious, courageous (are these not the words all our Sunday schools use to describe him?) Mattathias, as he shouted: “Whoever is for G-d, follow me!”

What have we here?  What kind of religious intolerance and bigotry?  What kind of a man is this for the anti-religious of Hashomer Hatzair, the graceful temples of suburbia, the sophisticated intellectuals, the liberal open-minded Jews and all the drones who have wearied us unto death with the concept of Judaism as a humanistic, open-minded, undogmatic, liberal, universalistic (if not Marxist) religion, to honor?  What kind of nationalism is this for David Ben-Gurion (he who rejects the Galut and speaks of the proud, free Jew of ancient Judea and Israel)?

And to crush us even more (we who know that Judaism is a faith of peace which deplores violence), what kind of Jews were these who reacted to oppression with FORCE?  Surely we who so properly have deplored Jewish violence as fascistic, immoral and (above all!) UN-JEWISH, stand in horror as we contemplate Jews who declined to picket the Syrian Greeks to death and who rejected quiet diplomacy for the sword, spear and arrow (had there been bombs in those days, who can tell what they might have done?) and “descended to the level of evil,” thus rejecting the ethical and moral concepts of Judaism.

Is this the kind of a holiday we wish to propagate?  Are these the kinds of men we want our moral and humanistic children to honor?  Is this the kind of Judaism that we wish to observe and pass on to our children?

Where shall we find the man of courage, the one voice in the wilderness to cry out against Chanukah and the Judaism that it represents - the Judaism of our grandparents and ancestors?  Where shall we find the man of honesty and integrity to attack the Judaism of Medievalism and outdated foolishness; the Judaism of bigotry that strikes down Jews who refuse to observe the law; the Judaism of violence that calls for Jewish force and might against the enemy?  When shall we find the courage to proudly eat our Chinese food and violate our Sabbaths and reject all the separateness, nationalism and religious maximalism that Chanukah so ignobly represents?  …Down with Chanukah!  It is a regressive holiday that merely symbolizes the Judaism that always was; the Judaism that was handed down to us from Sinai; the Judaism that made our ancestors ready to give their lives for the L-rd; the Judaism that young people instinctively know is true and great and real.  Such Judaism is dangerous for us and our leaders.  We must do all in our power to bury it.

~ HAPPY HANUKKAH ~

Updated List of Sydney Dead and Injured for Prayer

26 Kislev 5786
Second Candle of Hanukkah 

Here is the current (updated) list of the injured and the victims in the terror attack in Sydney:

Please say Tehillim/pray/do acts of kindness/donate in honour of the following people -

*Yonatan Ben Tziporah
*Chaya bas Shterna Sara
*Yaakov Ben Ethel

*Yacov Dov Ben Pnina [urgent]
*Arsen ben Zoya
*Dovber Ben Talya
*Moshe Ben Benyamin
*Moshe Yonatan Ben Tzipporah
*Toba bat Feige
*Elon Ben Ira
*Elon Ben Shimshon
*Yehuda Leib Ben Manya (post surgery in critical condition)
*Shoshana bat Mina
*Levi Zev Ben Elisheva Rochel
*Yaakov Yisroel ben Sara

ADDING - Geffen David Ben Meir
* Yosef Yitzchak Ben Shterna Sarah

And the following people have sadly succumbed to their wounds. May their memories be a blessing to their loved ones.

LeAlui Nishmat
*Feivel Eliezer Ben Dobra Bella halevi
*Moshe Aharon Ben Yosef
*Reuvein Ben Manya
*Yaakov Halevi Ben Miriam

ADDING: Dan David Ben Chana

Share 🙏 𝗜𝗦𝗥𝗔𝗘𝗟 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 https://chat.whatsapp.com/GHnMSPhx8yMFxdTyOb9xnQ

Full of Hope and Promise

25 Kislev 5786
First Candle of Hannukah

"It Is This That Has Sustained Us"

24 Kislev 5786
Erev Hanukkah 

BD"E

Israel Shocks the World - Claims:
"Australia's Hands Are Stained with Blood"

* * *

And it is this (the promise) that has stood by our ancestors and for us. 
For not only one (enemy) has risen up against us to destroy us,
But in every generation they rise up to destroy us.
But the Holy One, Blessed be He, delivers us from their hands.

* * * 

Tehilim for Sydney -  Names to pray for so far...

Reuven Ben Manya
Chaya Mushka bas Shterna Sara
Feivel Eliezer ben Dobra Bella
Arsan ben Amelia
Yaakov Dov ben Pnina
Yaakov ben Ethel
Moshe Yonatan ben Tziporah

Adding -
Elon Ben Shimshon
Yaacov haLevy Ben Miriam
Shoshana Bat Minette

Make sure to pray as much as possible! Share🙏

Vehi SheAmda - Yaakov Shweky and Yonatan Razel

Yoseph: "The Hidden Messiah"

22 Kislev 5786

Erev Shabbat Kodesh

Parashat Vayeshev - Mevarchim

BS"D

YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI

Jerusalem, Israel

HaRav Yehuda Kreuser SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva

THE HIDDEN MESSIAH

"These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph was seventeen years old and was feeding the flock with his brothers."

Why was Joseph singled out from all the other brothers, so that the Torah lists him as the "generations" of Jacob?  To teach us that everything that happened to Jacob happened to Joseph.  The GRA in "Kol Hatur" goes further and writes that everything that took place in the life of Joseph will also happen to "Zion" - the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.  In fact, it was the GRA who, some 250 years ago, compiled all the sources and expanded on the unknown topic - which is still unclear to most people - of the existence of two Messiahs, the long awaited Messiah Ben David and his counterpart, Messiah Ben Joseph.  What, then, are the attributes of this Messiah and how does he play into the unfolding history of the return of the Jewish people to their Land in our days?

First, it will only be to Joseph and his offspring that wicked Esau, Rome and their descendants - the West - will fall.  We find that when Jacob saw all the chiefs of Edom rising, he became frightened.  G-d told him: "Do not fear, for I will give them all over to the descendants of Joseph".  So when Joseph was born, Jacob said to Lavan: "Send me away that I may go to my own place and to my country."  What did Jacob see that made him want to return to the Land of Israel, now that Joseph was born?  Jacob realized that now that Joseph was born, he had the means to combat his brother Esau, and so it was time to pack it up and head home to Israel. This is what the prophet Obadiah told us: "The House of Jacob shall be fire and the House of Joseph flame, and the House of Esau stubble, and they shall kindle them and devour them and there shall be none remaining from the house of Esau, for the L-rd has spoken."

Another important aspect of Messiah Ben Joseph is that he is hidden from us and works for the benefit of the Jewish people and unbeknownst to them.  As the Torah tells us, that "Joseph recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him."  The GRA writes that this is the work of the "Satan", for if we were able to recognize the work of Messiah Ben Joseph, all of our troubles would be over.

The GRA continues and writes "that every aspect of the rebuilding and reclaiming of the Land of Israel, including the planting in all of its details and the settling of the Land, is the mission of Messiah Ben Joseph.  For Messiah Ben Joseph is from earth - meaning, he works for the physical rebuilding of the Land of Israel and Messiah Ben David is from heaven - who works for the spiritual benefit of the Jewish people.  They live in every generation!"

Crucial to understanding the work of Messiah Ben Joseph is the fact that Hashem is bringing the Redemption, and returning the Jewish people in our day to their Land in a totally natural way.  Through our hands and the hands of the nations of the world, through the UN, wars that are fought and won, roads and houses are built, destroyed and rebuilt, all done with hard labor, sweat and many tears, and all done naturally with Hashem's help - but not with open miracles, for this is the way of Messiah Ben Joseph.  Unfortunately, many religious Jews still lack the concept of Messiah Ben Joseph, for he is the "hidden Messiah", they sit in the exiles of the world, not taking part in the Redemption process, waiting for some sign or someone to knock on their door inviting them to come home, they wait and wait and wait.

The path of Messiah Ben Joseph is not an easy path, but this is the only way.  The GRA writes that every good and every step in this process of Redemption that comes, comes only though hardships.  The main thing is to understand this and know that this is the only way to move ahead - though hardships, but not to despair of them, for this is the path. 

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~

Hanukkah Is Almost Upon Us

21 Kislev 5786

Only four days left until the Festival of Lights!!

The Maccabees and the Hellenists 

Hanukkah as Jewish civil war

By James Ponet

...Read in its historical context,...the Hanukkah story is really about a revolt against the Hellenized Jews who had fallen madly in love with the sophisticated, globalizing superculture of their day. The Apocrypha's texts make it clear that the battle against Hellenization was, in fact, a kulturkampf among the Jews themselves. Here is how the first Book of the Maccabees describes Jerusalem on the eve of civil war and revolt in the time of Antiochus (translation by Nicholas de Lange):

At that time there were some evil-doers in Israel who tried to win popularity for a policy of integration with the surrounding nations. It was because the Jews had kept themselves aloof for so long, they claimed, that so many hardships had befallen them. They acquired a following and applied to Antiochus, who authorized them to introduce the Greek way of life. They built a Greek gymnasium in Jerusalem and even had themselves uncircumcised.

Uncircumcision as the price of admission to the Jerusalem gym! When they were eight days old, the "sign of the covenant" had been carved in their flesh; now as young men, these Jews risked health and sacrificed sexual pleasure to "become one flesh" with the regnant beauty culture. In Judea, then, there were Jews choosing to die rather than publicly profane Jewish law—and there were Jews risking death to free themselves from the parochial constraints of that law. The historic Jewish passion to merge and disappear confronted the attested Jewish will to stand apart and persist.

That's the clash of Hanukkah. Armed Hasmonean priests and their comrades from the rural town of Modi'in attacked urban Jews, priests and laity alike, who supported Greek reform, like the gymnasium and new rules for governing commerce. The Hasmoneans imposed, at sword's edge, traditional observance. After years of protracted warfare, the priests established a Hasmonean state that never ceased fighting Jews who disagreed with its rule....

And this battle is still going on today.  The Torah-true Jews who cherish their uniqueness and guard against foreign intrusion are an extreme minority.  It is also very noteworthy that every trouble we have ever had with foreign rulers was due to reshaim who wanted to assimilate. 

"Settler Violence Or Self Defense?"

20 Kislev 5786 

"If You Are Not A Wolf, You Will Be
Eaten By Wolves" | Rabbi Richter

"A Day in the Life..."

19 Kislev 5786 

Thought for the day...  The ultimate success is Klal Yisrael's.  That's a given.  Imagine the reaction of the evildoers when that finally becomes clear to them.

* * *

A Day In The Life Of A West Bank
Hill-Top "Violent (Re)Settler/Occupier"

"Should Jews Leave America?..."

 17 Kislev 5786

These Rabbis Completely
Disagree With Each Other
(Share in the Comments:  Who Won the Debate?)

 
Answering The Call Of Redemption

"Sneak Attack"

17 Kislev 5786

Eighty-four years ago today, Sunday, December 7, 1941, it was also the 17th of Kislev.  The United States suffered the most devastating enemy attack on its own territory until September 11, 2001.

THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR

RELATED:  Jewish Heroism On December 7, 1941, During The Attack On Pearl Harbour

Eisav: "Meet Me Half-Way"

15 Kislev 5786
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Vayishlach 

Here is a very interesting commentary on Vayishlach ...

The rabbinic identification of Rome [aka Christianity/Western Civilization] with the Biblical figure of Esau is basic to the traditional understanding of much of the relevant sections of Chumash Bereishis.  Esau's faults and shortcomings as well as his complex and tortured relationship with his brother Yaakov was seen by the Rabbis through the prism of this identification, so much so that the conflict of these two brothers typifies the struggle for spiritual and moral supremacy between Rome and Jerusalem.

...The following midrash typifies the personalization of Rome and the West as Esau while not sparing his hypocrisy.

In the future Esau will wrap himself in a tallis, sit down next to Yaakov and say to him, "You are my brother".  ...Yaakov will say to him, "My brother, you will not be like me.  "I will lead you to death, I will be the pestilence that leads you to Sheol (Hoshea 13,14).  Had I upheld decrees that you promulgated against me, I would have been guilty at the eyes of Heaven.  Had I violated them, you would have killed me? (Yalkut Shimoni, Yirmiahu 333)

"That was Esau's intention when he told Yaakov, "Let us travel together and I will go before you (Genesis 33,12).  He wanted them to join together in both this world and the world to come, to meet each other halfway, with each modifying his conduct until they were alike (Yalkut Shimoni, Genesis 133).  Indeed, Esau will even adopt certain tenets of Judaism - such as monotheism, the Divinity of the Torah, and reward and punishment - but only if Israel will give up some of its heritage.  Similarly, according to Tanna D'Bei Eliahu Zuta (19), Esau proposed:  "Give up some of the mitzvos that divide us. You will thereby enjoy this world and still have half the world to come.  Isn't that enough?  (Bais Halevy, Vayishlach).

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~ 

The Anti-Torah Forces Are Running Scared

14 Kislev 5786 

"...there is hope for your future, says the Lord, and the children shall return to their own border."  (Yirmiyahu 31.16)

While reports increase of the growing antisemitism (and anti-Israelism) of Western youth, the trend within Israel is headed in the opposite direction.

Will young Israelis' rightward, traditional shift impact the country's future? - opinion

“Tamid Ohev Oti” (“Hashem Always Loves Me”) was selected song of the year on Israel’s leading radio station, Galgalatz. TikTok is flooded with clips of young people wearing tzitzit proudly studying Torah. Entire battalions prayed together before entering Gaza. Are these just performative scenes, or signs of something deeper happening among Israeli youth?

The Jewish People Policy Institute’s (JPPI) November Israeli Society Index, which included a dedicated survey of 18–24-year-olds, examined this question in depth: Have young Israelis drawn closer to religion as a result of the war

The short answer: yes. And if Israel wishes to remain both Jewish and liberal-democratic, the form of Judaism shaping the public sphere cannot be the ultra-Orthodox or extremist varieties, but rather a Judaism that is open, humane, and compatible with life in a modern, largely secular Western state.

Israel, at its core, is a Western, secular country. But in recent years, and even more so since the war, Israel’s public sphere has taken an increasingly traditional tone. This is not a mass religious revival, nor an “Iranization” of Israeli society. Rather, it reflects cultural, linguistic, musical, and religious practices that more Israelis are choosing to embrace. The trend is visible across large swathes of the population, but because Israel is a young country, it is especially pronounced among young Israelis.

A few basic facts about religiosity in Israel help frame the story. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) divides Israelis into five identity categories: secular (42.7%); traditional, not religious (21.5%); traditional, religious (12%); religious (12%); and ultra-Orthodox (haredi) (11.4%). Among young adults, the picture shifts. CBS data shows that in the 20-24 age group, the secular share drops to around 38%. Meanwhile, the more religious groups grow, and above all, the share of young haredim rises sharply to 18%. Of course, the new JPPI findings must be understood in the context of this broader demographic backdrop.

A clear trend emerges from the new JPPI Israeli Society Index survey: young Israelis are “strengthening in faith.” Thirty-five percent say they now believe in God more than before (only 10% say they believe less). About a third report that they observe more traditional practices than in the past – 38% pray more; 27% read the Bible more. The pattern is strongest among young Israelis with any pre-existing degree of religious identity, from the traditional (non-religious) to the ultra-Orthodox. Among secular youth, the picture is more mixed: just 10% say they practice more tradition, while 15% say they practice less. Yet, when asked about their friends, young people across all groups overwhelmingly report that “many” – and among the traditionally affiliated, even “most” – have become more religious.

The political shifts are no less dramatic. Young Israelis have moved decisively to the Right. Across every ideological cohort – from the hard Left to moderate Right – nearly half of respondents say they have shifted rightward since the war began. Only about 12% report shifting toward the Left.

What does this mean for Israel’s future? The demographic reality is well established: the more religious the group, the higher its fertility rate. This is no longer a projection but a long-observed pattern – a steady decline in the proportion of secular Israelis, alongside a dramatic increase in the share of haredim and a more moderate rise in other religious groups. When these long-term demographic trajectories combine with new data showing increased traditionalism among young Israelis, the direction is quite clear: Israel is on track to become more religious and more right-wing.

It is possible, of course, that some of these shifts may reflect a reaction to the trauma of war that may fade over time. But evidence from recent years suggests that the traditionalist turn is not a passing moment – it is becoming embedded in the body politic.

For Israelis who value a Jewish yet liberal, Western Israel, the struggle ahead is not only over democratic norms, but also over the character of Judaism in the public sphere. Will it be inspired by a Judaism that is open, inclusive, and capable of sustaining a liberal, pluralistic society – one that allows every Jew to choose his or her own path?

* * *

Other News of Note:  US Senator pushes ban on dual citizenship, creating uncertainty for Israeli-Americans, olim

Rabbi Richter on "Settler Violence"

13 Kislev 5786 

Stop The Settler Violence Now!!
Rabbi Richter

The (Ir)Relevance of Diaspora Jewry

12 Kislev 5786

Can anyone explain to me why the rich and infuential Jewish Americans in the Diaspora who do not care to live in Eretz Yisrael still insist on having some say in its future - to the detriment! - of the Jews who do?

Diaspora Jews trying to stay relevant - Heaven help us!!

Former US Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will participate in the first Israel Hayom summit in New York on Tuesday, December 2 at the Hilton Midtown hotel. The summit, the first of its kind, will be held with the participation of Israel Hayom publisher Dr. Miriam Adelson and will focus on US-Israel relations, planning for the day after the war, and the role of Diaspora Jewry in shaping Israel's future.    (Source)

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz will headline the first Israel Hayom summit in New York on Tuesday, December 2, and he won't be alone. His appearance comes just a week after he spearheaded the UN resolution to adopt the Trump plan for the future of Gaza and ahead of his historic visit to Israel.

Dozens of prominent figures are scheduled to attend the all-day event at the Hilton Midtown, bringing together the people behind the world's most dramatic news. The lineup includes current and former senior government officials, leading business executives, heads of major Jewish organizations, survivors of Hamas captivity, and families of the hostages.

The conference is positioned as one of the year's most significant international events, focusing squarely on the central relationship between Israel and the US, as well as the unique and growing challenges faced by the world's largest Jewish community outside of Israel.

Dr. Miriam Adelson is hosting the conference, which will feature former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator John Fetterman, Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, former US Ambassador David Friedman, former Ambassador and Minister Gilad Erdan, Minister Amichai Chikli, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, and many other leading figures from the diplomatic sphere.

Key leaders from the Jewish community, dedicated to reinforcing the bond between US Jews and Israel, will also be featured. These include Ron Lauder, Malcolm Hoenlein, Rabbi Ari Berman, Elan Carr, Sylvan Adams, and several others.   (Source)

They don't know it yet, but these rich and influential "Diapora" Jews who are tightening the American noose around the necks of Israeli Jews are as relevant to the future of Eretz Yisrael as the four-fifths of the Jews who remained in Egypt.  They are destined to share the same fate as well.  And good riddance!!