"The Sun Rises and the Sun Sets"

26 Marcheshvan 5787
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Chayei Sarah - Mevorchim

From the Stone Edition Chumash Commentary...

The Sages teach that the narratives of Sarah's death and the Akeidah follow one another to indicate that she died as a result of that event.  She was told by the Satan that Abraham had actually slaughtered Isaac, and she cried out in grief and died (Targum Yonasan).  This explains why Abraham and Isaac were not present at her death.

R' Yaakov Kamenetsky explained that this cannot mean that Sarah died "accidentally" before her time, because, in connection with Sarah's life span, the Sages teach that Isaac had to anticipate his own possible death when he came to within five years of the age at which she died....  This dictum could not have applied to Sarah if her death was not natural.  Rather, the sense of the Targum Yonasan is that Sarah's time had come in any case, but that the immediate cause of death was the news of the Akeidah.  Some commentators say that her last breath came with the proud knowledge that she had succeeded in raising a son who was willing to give up even his life in the service of God.

In addition, the Torah records the birth of Rebecca before the death of Sarah in line with the tradition that a righteous person is not taken from the world until his or her successor has been born, as implied by the verse (Ecclesiastes 1:5), The sun rises and the sun sets (Sforno, Baal HaTurim).

~ Shabbat Shalom ~ 

US Stranglehold on Israel

25 Marcheshvan 5787 

If you were hopeful, like me, that the announcement of the end of US funding would work toward freeing Israel of US domination, think again. They must know, at least on a soul level, that when Yisrael rises Eisav falls and they are determined to keep us under their thumb come what may.  

Under the guise of preparing a final strike on Iran, the US has flooded our country with war materiel.  As a direct result of the Simchat Torah Massacre, we have been invaded and occupied.  I fear that even now, they may be setting up a collaborationist client state here.

Iran, the tool in HKB"H's hand, may be our last hope for ending this anytime soon...

HERE TO STAY: Israel And U.S. Plan Dedicated Southern Compound To Host American Fighter Jets Long-Term

Israel and the United States are moving ahead with a plan that would allow American fighter jets to stay in Israel for long periods. As part of the effort, teams from both countries have begun drawing up plans for dedicated military infrastructure where U.S. aircraft would be stationed alongside Israeli Air Force planes.

According to reports, the new compound is expected to go up in southern Israel. It’s needed because Israel’s existing bases aren’t set up for American aircraft to stay long-term in the numbers being discussed.

The planning teams are working out how the compound will be built and how it will be used. No work has started on the ground yet, and the project is still in the planning stages, but Israeli officials want to push it forward soon.

The plan is part of a wider Israeli push to deepen the American military presence in the region after the war. In March, Israel even proposed that Washington look into moving American bases from elsewhere in the Middle East to Israel, but that broader idea hasn’t moved forward. For now, the goal is to make it possible for American jets and other military assets to stay in Israel for long stretches.

U.S. forces have been a steady presence at Israeli bases in the south in recent months. In late September, two squadrons of American fighter jets arrived at Ovda Airbase in the Negev, joining other U.S. jets already there. Israeli security officials said at the time that it was part of a broader rotation of U.S. forces in the region.

Since mid-October, at least 16 heavy C-17 cargo planes have landed at Ovda, most of them flying directly from Fort Bliss in Texas, home base of the U.S. Army’s air defense forces. According to reports, the cargo includes Patriot and THAAD air defense batteries and large stocks of interceptors.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Is the Concept of a Global Noahide "Community" a Scam?

25 Marcheshvan 5787  

Whether it goes so far as to include outright idolaters as "righteous gentiles" or restricts it to "Noahides" who swear to live in accordance with the Seven Laws of Noah, the latest wave of efforts to accommodate "the Nations" with regard to religion still demands that we Jews serve them rather than HKB"H.  

In many, if not most cases, what they want from us is our heritage with all its benefits and blessings but without the obligations and responsibilities.  They want a gentilized version of Judaism to run alongside us.  It has reached the point in many respects where, looking from the outside, you can't tell the difference between the Jews and the Noahides. 

I saw a video of a Noahide wedding.   There was a huppah with a veiled bride and groom and all the men wore kippot and there was circle-dancing.  I could not distinguish it from a Jewish wedding.  (I'm told that they also had a ketubah and broke a glass.)  

I saw another video of a "Bat Noah" (gentile Bat Mitzvah).  I would not have known the difference.  It's a made up "life passage event" coveted by some Noahide families so they don't have to feel short-changed by losing one religion and not qualifying for the other.

We have a commandment to remain separate and distinctively apart from the gentiles.  We were told not to copy their manner of dress and yet, if they come along and copy ours, what are we supposed to do then?  Certainly not encourage it.  Certainly not invite them to partake of everything unique to us - Torah, Shabbat, chagim, mitzvot, kedushah.

The Creator made one religion in the world and if you want a religious way of life as a gentile, there is only one path to it - conversion.  Noahidism should not become religion for gentiles.  If that is what it has come down to then it's another avodah zarah - strange worship not approved by the Creator of the  World.

The First International Congress of Noahides... 

...is taking place in Jerusalem from November 2 to November 6, 2026.  Organized by Brit Olam (the Noahide World Center), the gathering brings together representatives from six continents at the Seven Arches Hotel on the Mount of Olives.

Organizers emphasize that this gathering is a "foundation, not a conference," aiming to shift the modern Noahide movement from individual communities into a structured, unified global framework.

Core Activities & Events

The five-day program focuses on creating international legal, educational, and organizational institutions:

• Signing the Founding Charter: Attendees are drafting and signing a collective covenant to solidify Noahidism as a formal global movement.

• Establishing a Global Beit Din: The congress is establishing the first international Rabbinical Court (Beit Din) specifically for Noahides to oversee judicial and legal matters globally.  [THIS IS THEIR MITZVAH, NOT OURS!!]

• Regional Councils & Infrastructure: Participants are setting up six continental councils, designing a standardized educational syllabus, and building a financial foundation to scale the movement.

• Political & State Engagement: The congress aims to strengthen the relationship between Noahides and the State of Israel. The schedule includes an official reception at Beit HaNasi with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, alongside meetings with officials at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  [WHAT DOES THE STATE OF ISRAEL HAVE TO DO WITH THE NOAHIDES OF THE  WORLD?!]

What is Being Said & Taught

Led by Rabbi Oury Cherki, the ideological messaging anchors on moving beyond abstract discussion to formalize a "positive identity":

• "Pouring a New Foundation": Leadership, including NWC CEO Rabbi Chaim Goldberg, stated that the movement is "not adding a second floor to an old building... we are pouring a new foundation together," reflecting a historical pivot toward an institutionalized, universal covenant for humanity.

• The Six-Continent Movement: Speakers are highlighting the growth of Noahidism—centered around the Seven Universal Laws of Noah—into a network spanning over 70 countries. Codices like Brit Shalom and the Brit Olam prayer book are being promoted to standardize daily and yearly worship cycles.  [HOW WILL THIS NOT BECOME A PARALLEL RELIGIOUS PATH?  THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE DOING!]

• Theological Boundaries: The core teachings remind participants that the Noahide framework demands a strict adherence to pure monotheism. Discussions reiterate that any form of worship directed toward partner deities or incarnations (specifically contradicting traditional Christian doctrines regarding Jesus) is defined within this framework as forbidden idolatry.

Outside Perspectives & Discourse

The event has drawn diverse reactions online:

• Theological Critiques: Certain evangelical and Christian watch organizations have highlighted the congress with concern, warning their audiences that the building of centralized global moral institutions in Jerusalem mirrors biblical end-times prophecies regarding a one-world religious system. 

• Community Celebration: Within Noahide and associated Jewish community networks, the event is being celebrated as a major step toward global community-building and shared spiritual responsibility.

With all the emphasis on Geulah and Mashiach in these days, it has become popular to assure "the Nations" that they have a role to play and are even indispensable to the establishment of the Messianic Era, i.e. the Jews can't quite get it done unless they bring the gentiles alongside as an equal partner.  These gentiles, righteous though they may be individually, when organized into a global, universalist entity, could still pose an existential threat to us.

There is a very good reason the prophets prophesied this to be the situation in the world only after Mashiach has arrived!!

[See further "Israel and the Nations" Ramchal's Derech Hashem]

~ ~ ~

The Voice of Sanity and Reason - the Voice of Torah...

Rabbi Yaron Reuven:
NOAHIDE COMMUNITY SCAM

"Israel's 2026 Election Shock..."

 24 Marcheshvan 5787 

"...Historic Arab Victory!"

In the Past One Hour

24 Marcheshvan 5787 

 (@23:30 hrs)

IRAN PUTS OUT NUCLEAR STRIKE WARNINGS!!
POLAND MOVES TROOPS TO RUSSIAN BORDER!!

        (@21:30 hrs)

"Emergency Guidelines"

23 Marcheshvan 5787  

Iran Issues Nuclear Attack Emergency
Guidelines For Citizens | NewsX World

The Unthinkable

23 Marcheshvan 5787 

What If Iran Nuked Israel?
We Mapped Every Strike That Follows

Valuable Information in an Emergency

22 Marcheshvan 5787

The information in this video can be equally applied to any city in the world.  Let's hope we never need it.

What Would Happen
If a Nuclear Bomb Hit New York City?

It's Time Once Again - to Expel Yishmael

19 Marcheshvan 5787
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Vayera

The Stone Edition Chumash Commentary:

Ishmael is expelled:  In the ninth of Abraham's Ten Trials, God commanded him to banish Ishmael, because he was a menace to the spiritual health - and perhaps the very life - of Isaac.  To signify Ishmael's gross nature, the Torah describes him as the son of Hagar, the Egyptian.  Despite her many years in the home of Abraham and Sarah, Hagar remained an Egyptian princess, and Ishmael gravitated to her influence rather than Abraham's.  That Abraham found it repugnant to send Ishmael away is clear from the narrative, but he was strong enough to do whatever he was commanded.  As the Patriarch of Israel, his primary responsibility was to subordinate his feelings of love to the dictates of the future.

If only the leaders of the Jewish people today would follow Avraham Avinu's example!!

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~ 

The Sleepers Have Awakened (Part 2/2)

18 Marcheshvan 5787

(Part 1)

"We Have A Problem..." 

That clip was taken from (IDSF - Israel's Defense and Security Forum)
Israel's Election Result Nobody Expected — and What It Means for the War.
~ ~ ~

A lot of right-wingers are screaming that this situation is anti-Zionist!  It seems to me that it is very much "Zionist"...

They've been kicking the can down the road for 78 years!!Reality has now caught up!!
I think it is only right and proper that, on his yahrtzeit, we give Rabbi Meir Kahane the last word...

  

The Sleepers Have Awakened (Part 1/2)

18 Marcheshvan 5787

This is what I wrote on "X" the day following the election in Israel...

The big wake-up call; the big lesson for Israeli Jews from yesterday's experience is this: As long as non-Jews (Arabs) can vote, you don't have - can't have - a "Jewish" country. It is already - and has always been - a state of all its citizens (all with equal rights).

That is an important, even essential, realization that paves the way toward making us a real Jewish country in the future.

As the devastating truth hits home, more and more comments on social media are focused on this very fact. I'm happy to see the direction the discussion is taking.

These are just a few examples.  There are a lot more.  And that's also just on "X" and just on what my account pulls up for me to see.  Contrary to what many foreigners think, the Jews are not suicidal.  They will eventually make the correct conclusions and determine to take the hard actions it will require to survive.

PS:  For the uninformed...

Israel's top court allows Arab parties to run in election

Wesley Dockery with dpa, Reuters

October 2, 2026

The ruling overturns a move by the Central Elections Committee to ban four parties. The conservative Muslim Ra'am party could serve as the kingmaker following the next elections.

(Part 2)

On the Anniversary of the Mabul

17 Marcheshvan 5787

"Sodom was destroyed as a city because the sin is the sin of the city.  It's not the sin of the individual.  ...It was the commuity's sin so the community needed to be destroyed...."

The Sin of Sodom That Still Looks

“Normal” Today - Rabbi Shlomo Farhi

Setting the Record Straight

16 Marcheshvan 5787

Regarding the Disengagement from Gush Katif and the claim that Chareidi parties voted in favor of it.... 

The formal authorization of the unilateral disengagement plan and the subsequent removal of the Gush Katif settlements occurred across a series of landmark legislative and executive actions:

• Initial Cabinet Approval (June 6, 2004): The Israeli Cabinet voted 14–7 to approve the revised version of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement strategy. This established the broad framework for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.

• Knesset Endorsement (October 26, 2004): The Knesset voted 67–45 in favor of the Disengagement Bill during its crucial first reading, providing legislative legitimacy to the blueprint.

• Final Implementation Law (February 16, 2005): The Knesset passed the final Disengagement Plan Implementation Law (commonly referred to as the "Evacuation-Compensation Law") by a 59–40 vote. This formally legalised the framework for removing the residents and compensating them.

• Final Executive Order (February 20, 2005): The Cabinet voted 17–5 to issue the formal executive order to begin dismantling the specific communities, grouping the 21 Gaza settlements and four West Bank settlements into operational phases.

Following these approvals, the evacuation deadline was issued for August 15, 2005, and the physical uprooting of the Gush Katif communities took place over the weeks that followed.

~ ~ ~ 

...none of the religious parties voted to implement the disengagement. Instead, the main religious parties either fiercely opposed the plan from within the coalition, resigned in protest before it could happen, or voted directly against it.

The actions taken by the primary religious parties at the time include:

1. The National Religious Party (Mafdal)

As the primary political home for the religious-Zionist movement and the Gush Katif settlers, Mafdal was the most deeply affected.

• Internal Split: The plan fractured the party. Effie Eitam (the Housing Minister) resigned from the cabinet as early as June 2004, declaring the day of the initial disengagement vote a "black day for Israel".

• The Final Break: The remaining cabinet member, Zvulun Orlev, stayed in the government to fight the plan from within. However, immediately following the Knesset's broader authorization of the disengagement framework in late 2004, Orlev and the entire Mafdal party officially resigned from the government and went into the opposition.

2. Shas (Sephardic Ultra-Orthodox)

• Firm Opposition: Shas was entirely in the parliamentary opposition during this period. Under the guidance of their spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the party's lawmakers voted solidly against the Disengagement Bill in the Knesset, aligning ideologically with the settlement movement against territorial withdrawal.

3. United Torah Judaism (UTJ - Ashkenazi Ultra-Orthodox)

• The "Safety Net" Entry: UTJ was not in the government when the disengagement was initially conceived and voted on in 2004. However, after Mafdal and the secular Shinui party left the coalition, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government was on the verge of collapse.

• Involvement: To stabilize his coalition and ensure the budget passed so the pullout could legally proceed, Sharon brought the Labor party and UTJ into the government in early 2005. While UTJ joined the coalition for budgetary and sector-specific financial reasons, their leading rabbis instructed them to abstain or maintain a passive stance on the actual evacuation, rather than actively voting to champion it.

Summary of how the votes passed

Because the religious and right-wing parties revolted against him, Ariel Sharon was only able to pass the disengagement by firing dissenting ministers within his own Likud party and heavily relying on the left-wing Labor Party and opposition Arab parties to provide the necessary votes to pass the laws.

1. The Preliminary Disengagement Vote (October 26, 2004)

This vote gave preliminary approval to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's general plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. [1]

• Shas: Voted NO.
  Rabbi Ovadia Yosef issued a ruling against the withdrawal, grounding it in a religious-security ruling that abandoning the territory would put lives at risk under the concept of pikuach nefesh (saving lives). [1, 2, 3]
• UTJ: Voted NO. Though UTJ traditionally preferred to abstain or remain neutral on territorial/diplomatic issues, their spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, instructed them to vote against the plan after Shas came out firmly against it. [1]

2. The Disengagement Implementation Law / "Evacuation-Compensation" Vote (February 16, 2005)

This critical vote finalized the law required to actually execute the withdrawal and regulate financial compensation for the evacuees. [1, 2]

• Shas: Voted NO. Shas remained consistent in its opposition to the withdrawal itself and voted against the law alongside other right-wing parties. [1]
• UTJ: Abstained. By early 2005, UTJ had entered Sharon’s coalition government to stabilize it. Under Rabbi Elyashiv’s guidance, they chose to abstain from the final vote rather than actively blocking the implementation of a plan that already had a guaranteed Knesset majority. [1, 2]

1. Blocking the National Referendum

The primary point of anger centers on the fateful vote on March 28, 2005. Opponents of the pullout tried to pass a law requiring a nationwide referendum, which they hoped would delay or entirely defeat Ariel Sharon's plan. [1, 2]

• The Decision: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef maintained a strict ideological opposition to introducing plebiscites/referendums into the Israeli political system. [1]
• The Outcome: Under his direction, Shas voted against the referendum, helping defeat the bill 72–39. Critics argue this single vote removed the final political roadblock and directly handed Sharon his path to execution. [1, 2]

2. The Theological Foundation (Pikuach Nefesh)

Historically, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef pioneered a famous halakhic ruling stating that giving up land from the Land of Israel is permissible if it saves human lives (Pikuach Nefesh). [1, 2]

• Although he strongly opposed the 2005 disengagement because it was unilateral and lacked a partner to stop terror, religious Zionist and right-wing groups felt his prior halakhic framework legitimized the concept of territorial withdrawal in the eyes of the public. [1, 2]

3. The "Apology" and Regret

In the years following the disengagement, as rocket fire from Gaza intensified, Shas and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef faced intense scrutiny from right-wing circles for not doing enough to bring down Sharon’s government. [1]

• The Expression of Regret: Reports and testimonies surfaced detailing how the Rabbi wept heavily over the displacement of the Gush Katif settlers. [1]
• The Political Spin: Opponents frequently weaponized these public expressions of profound grief and religious sorrow, framing them as a retrospective "apology" or admission of guilt for the party's strategic parliamentary decisions.  (Gemini AI)

 ~ ~ ~ 

In the end, it was meant to be or it wouldn't have happened, just like the destruction of the Batei Mikdash.  And the wonderful and righteous people involved held much of the responsibility for it.   As is usual for us, we did everything but what HKB"H told us to do and looked to everyone but Him and His Torah for the solution.

(Devarim 30.11-14) For this commandment which I command you this day, is not concealed from you, nor is it far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" Rather, [this] thing is very close to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can fulfill it.

(Bamidbar 33.55-56) 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.

I was shocked over and over again by the personal testimonies I heard from residents of Gush Katif who, like the residents of the South in 2023, spoke glowingly of the good relations they shared with their Arab neighbors even to attending each others' weddings and going for coffees.  What HKB"H had intended for them to do - drive out these Arabs - when they made no attempt but even did the opposite, then just as the Torah says, He did it to them - they were driven out.  And the same law applies to this day!!

The worst part of it is that we still haven't learned this lesson.  We are still making the same mistakes and that is the greatest tragedy of all!  

Whatever government we get, it will be exactly what we deserve.  Hashem yerachem aleinu!!